Quote:
Originally Posted by w14
David Cameron has said that the development of "green coal" will be a priority for a future Conservative government, according to the BBC today. Apparently, he plan's to have the "captured" CO2 pumped into empty North Sea oil and gas fields.
Again, the politicians get it completely wrong.
Carbon capture is a rubbish solution for so many reasons:
When coal is burned, the CO2 emitted is relatively dilute, making CO2 capture unrealistic. To solve this problem, the coal industry has come up with a new process called coal gasification. Water and oxygen are mixed with the coal to (chemically) create carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The hydrogen is used as the fuel source for electricity generation, and the carbon monoxide is converted to concentrated CO2. And here's the main reason this technology is nuts: around 25% of the energy produced is consumed just in keeping the plant operating.
For every tonne of coal consumed, 3.7 tonnes of CO2 is generated. It would be great if this CO2 could be pumped straight into the ground on-site. But Cameron is proposing pumping the CO2 out to the North Sea, so new pipelines are going to have to be laid, at what, £1m per mile or so?
Before the CO2 can be pumped underground, it has to be compressed into a liquid - a step that typically consumes a further 20% of the energy yielded by burning coal in the first place.
So that's 45% of the generating capacity of the power station used to deal with the CO2, so far. Good, eh?
The state of the captured CO2 must be closely monitored - its at such a high concentration that should it leak, it would poison the North Sea.
How is this better than nuclear power?
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Agreed.
What's worse with Camerons plans is that the area of the North Sea that he is suggesting as a good location for the Carbon capture, is also the location of a huge Methane deposit that is already leaking.
It is, however, refreshing to hear politicians talking about doing something. I realsie it is just "Lip-service", but at least that's better than Bush, who wouldn't say anything to upset the big corps.