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FirstEnergy Coal Plant Selected for Key Study: Project Aims to Cut Greenhouse Gases

Posted on: Saturday, 3 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Tom Henry, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

May 29--FirstEnergy Corp. has become the Midwest's first utility to have a coal-fired power plant chosen for research that could someday be applied broadly to help reduce greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Called geological carbon sequestration, the technology aims to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants - the greatest source of global warming - before they get into the atmosphere. The hope is to inject them deep underground into pits, such as abandoned coal mines, abandoned oil fields, or saltwater aquifers, assuming the cost is within reason.

Some $18.1 million is being spent to fund that research and related research involving the absorptive capacity of trees in seven Midwest states, including Ohio and Michigan.

Projects are being selected by the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus.

Last week, the seven-state consortium announced that FirstEnergy's coal-fired Berger power plant on the Ohio River near Shadyside, Ohio, had been selected as the region's first test site.

Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said additional geological research will be done before the test well is drilled. He said it would be about 18 months before any such well is in operation.

The hope: Viability for the maligned coal-fired power industry, while creating a compatible option for helping America keep pace with its rising energy needs.

Coal is America's most plentiful fossil fuel. But it is also among the dirtiest to burn. It has come under increased scrutiny as the world becomes more attuned to greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

"If it works out as hoped, that will be huge as far as ensuring the coal-fired power plants do have a future," Mr. Durbin said. "Anything we can do to add some flexibility to our energy needs is big."

As with a lot of things, the technology isn't as simple as it sounds. Scientists have struggled for years trying to find what hidden perils might exist, from buildup of gases to their potential of slipping through bedrock and contaminating freshwater aquifers.

Norway is one of the few countries burying carbon dioxide instead of venting it. It has been injecting the gas beneath the ocean floor of the North Sea.

A decision was not immediately made on how much Berger will get from the Midwest's $18.1 million research pie. Other sites are to be considered, Mark Berry, Battelle spokesman, said.

DTE Energy, Detroit Edison's parent, is interested in participating but hasn't settled on a site to offer, John Austerberry, utility spokesman, said.

Consumers Energy doesn't plan to offer one, said Dan Bishop, a spokesman for that utility.

About $14.3 million of the $18.1 million for the seven Midwestern states is coming from the U.S. Department of Energy. Another $3.8 million is coming from nonfederal sources, including $750,000 from the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority.

Underground injection of carbon dioxide emissions is one of two forms of carbon sequestration that industries and governments in several countries are spending billions to research.

A less complicated one is terrestrial sequestration, in which trees and plants are selectively planted on various parts of the Earth to absorb excess carbon dioxide emissions from the air. Some of the Midwest's $18.1 million will go toward terrestrial research, the consortium said.

FirstEnergy and DTE are among 25 utilities that belong to PowerTree Carbon Co. LLC, a cooperative $3 million effort to curb emissions by planting more trees in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Research for both geological and terrestrial research will continue through September, 2009.

In England, BP is leading a $25 million research project that involves eight countries. Data from it could conceivably be applied someday to BP's oil refineries around the world, including the one just east of Toledo in Oregon.

Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

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Source: The Blade

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