Getting started5. Carbon capture and storage
The term "clean coal" generally refers to carbon capture and storage. It involves capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants, processing and transporting it, and storing it where it theoretically will not leak, usually underground.
Carbon can be captured from fossil fuel power plants before the fossil fuel is combusted through a gasification process; post-combustion, the CO2 is separated from the flue gas with a filter made from a solvent that absorbs CO2. After the CO2 is captured, it is compressed and transported via pipes to a storage site. Currently, it is mainly oil and gas companies that practice underground storage, or geological sequestration. In a process known as enhanced oil recovery, CO2 is injected into depleted oil or gas reserves to drive the remaining oil to the drilling site or improve its flow. In the U.S., only the Petra Nova plant in Texas, which began operating in January, is capturing CO2 from coal burning and using it for enhanced oil recovery.
Most commercial efforts for carbon capture and sequestration have been plagued by years of delay and billions in cost overruns; moreover the technology does not eliminate all coal emissions. This is why the U.S. Energy Department has been trying to develop more efficient and cost-effective technology, stating, "The successful development of advanced CO2 capture technologies is critical to maintaining the cost-effectiveness of fossil fuel based power generation."
"If carbon capture and sequestration were effective and affordable," said Gerrard, "there would be a lot to say for it."
A bipartisan group in Congress is pushing for an extended and enhanced tax credit to encourage the development and utilization of carbon capture and sequestratio
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-climate-solutions.html#jCp