Energy and Climate
In November 2005 the Chair of Strategy and Innovation (CSI) in collaboration with the Association Internationale de Specialistes en Energie (AISEN) organized two lectures on technology solutions concerning energy and climate issues:
Coal liquefaction technologies and their future potentials
Sequestration and storage of CO2, November 16th
‘Coal liquefaction technologies and their future potentials', November 2nd
Colin Baudouin, responsible for marketing and refinery at the French Institute of Petrol (IFP) gave a lecture on ‘coal liquefaction technologies and their future potentials'. Here is the summary of his argument.
Over the next thirty years, the most rapid increase in energy demand is expected to come from the transport sector (+2.1%/yr versus 1.7%/yr for total demand). At present, this sector relies almost exclusively on petroleum products, which brings up two key problems: oil dependence and the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Especially countries that possess an abundance of coal and which are very concerned about increasing dependence on oil imports see an alternative in ‘coal-to-liquid' (CTL). World coal reserves, which can ensure production for more than 200 years at the present rate, are concentrated in countries like China and India, which should also see a sharp growth in their energy consumption in the years to come. In China, for example, the cost of extracting coal is low (about $12/t), therefore the CTL solution may prove competitive compared to conventional solutions provided that the price per barrel oil stays higher than $40/bbl for a very long period.
Next to purely economic motivations, producing clean liquid fuels from coal is advantageous for various other reasons: CTL uses the same distribution and end-use infrastructures as current petroleum fuels; furthermore, CTL fuels are refined fuels and there is no need to build up extra refinery capacities. Moreover, this technology provides environmental benefits as CTL fuels are zero sulphur fuels; they as well reduce nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions which also enables the use of higher efficiency engines.
Two basic approaches to convert coal to liquid fuels exist: First, the direct liquefaction which calls for breaking coal down in a solvent at high temperature and pressure, followed by interaction with hydrogen gas and a catalyst. Second, the indirect liquefaction which involves first gasifying coal and then making synthetic fuels from this “syngas.”
The coal technologies mentioned above are capable of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and thus also serve as a bridge to a hydrogen fuel future through poly-generation (linking multiple types of plants into one, such as co-production of liquid fuels, electricity, hydrogen, etc.)
But CO2 emissions are higher with CTL than for conventional technologies. To improve their greenhouse gas emission balance, consideration may eventually be given to capturing the CO2 emitted by these units and storing it in geological formations, which would cost an additional $10 to 20/bbl.
Sequestration and storage of CO2, November 16th
This leads directly over to the topic of the second lecture, ‘sequestration and storage of CO2', given by Dr. Isabelle Czernichovsky-Lauriol from the ‘Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières' (BRGM) and Dr. Clemens Cremer, geo-ecologist from the Fraunhofer ISI (Institut für Systemforschung und Innovation) on November 16th. Here is the summary of their argument.
In order to ensure the stabilization of CO2 concentrations within a safe range by the end of the century, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) scenarios foresee that it will be necessary to start, in the timeframe 2020-2050, a global emission reduction by 50%-60%, compared to 1990 levels. For developed countries this target signifies the reductions of their emissions by a factor of four.
This has as a consequence that from 2020 onwards, the supply of energy will also need to be provided by a wider use of renewable energies, hydrogen technologies and fuel cells as well as by highly efficient “clean” technologies for the use of fossil fuels, and technologies for carbon sequestration. This scenario is called the “de-carbonization” of the economy.
Targeted are 5000 of the biggest power plants on the planet, as well as 2000 cement factories, steel mills and refineries, which altogether emit 13 billion tons of CO2 each year of altogether 30 billion tons. In other words these utilities and installations are responsible for nearly 50% of human CO2 emissions. Therefore, they are a privileged target for sequestration technologies.
The capture and storage of CO2 takes place in two steps: in the first place, it consists of separating the CO2 from the rest of emission gases, principally azotes, throughout the combustion. Once the carbon dioxide is captured it has to be sequestrated. Various solutions for this problem exist. Geologists estimate that globally there are sufficient sites available in order to accommodate at least 2000 Gt of CO2, in comparison to 30 Gt/ year of CO2 emissions. Unfortunately those sites do not necessarily correspond geographically to the principal zones of emission (North-America, Europe, South-East-Asia) and some of them are difficult to access, for example off-shore repositories. Therefore transport grids have to be taken into consideration which will definitely influence the price of CO2 sequestration and storage.
The discussion with conference participants showed that price is the key to this technology option: the disengagement of carbon dioxide from one barrel of petrol with available technology could raise the price per barrel by $20-30. When oil prices are low ($20-30) these extra expenses weigh less heavily. When oil prices are high the extra $20-30 will become punishing for energy companies, especially as under liberal market conditions their competitors are free to choose whether to adopt CO2 sequestration. This implies that state regulation and multilateral cooperation between states are indispensable in order to define common rules and competitive conditions - otherwise CO2 sequestration and storage projects risk never seeing life.
Both seminars were a success. We attracted an important target group consistent of professionals from the Swiss energy sector as well as energy researchers and faculty from various institutions in the Leman area. We were able to present our newly founded College and to introduce some of the CDM missions to them. We hope to have contributed to create a basis for future cooperation between the CDM and the local as well as the Swiss energy sector.
auteur:
Bettina Bastian
