Linde carbon capture project to receive major R&D grant by U.S. Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected technology group The Linde Group to receive USD 15 million for the advancement of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies. Linde’s pilot plant, to be built in Wilsonville, AL, is targeted to be operational by early 2014. The facility will test novel CO2scrubbing solutions to reduce the energy consumption and costs of advanced carbon capture and separation systems for coal-fired power plants.
The pilot plant will be designed to capture at least 90 percent of the CO2 generated at an increase in the cost of electricity of no more than 35 percent. This would represent a significant improvement over existing technologies that can add as much as 80 percent to the cost of electricity.
The new plant will build on the extensive experience Linde gained in a comparable project in Niederaussem, Germany. Here, since 2009, the company successfully tests new CO2 scrubbing solvents in collaboration with electricity supplier RWE and chemicals company BASF. Post-combustion capture technologies like this one offer great near-term potential for reducing CO2 emissions because it can be added to existing power plants.
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