|
Delta and CSIRO have developed a $5 million research scale pilot facility at Munmorah Power Station on the NSW Central Coast to test the capture (and release) up to 3,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The Munmorah pilot program has investigated the potential to adapt post carbon capture (PCC) ammonia absorption processes to Australian conditions. This project is part of and is supported by the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP).
A range of capture technologies are under development internationally, although none are currently commercially available for coal fired generation.
Carbon Capture Demonstration Project
The Munmorah pilot plant has been a precursor to a larger PCC demonstration project in NSW. This demonstration project would include the capture of the CO2, plus its transport to and injection into a suitable geo-sequestration site and could be operational by 2013. Investment in the demonstration project, announced by the Hon. Ian Macdonald, NSW Minister for Resources in March 2010, is funded equally by the Australian Government, NSW Government and the Australian Coal Association.
Click on the relevant link for
a CSIRO fact sheet on Post Combustion Capture
media announcement of demonstration project
NSW Clean Coal Council
NSW has established a Clean Coal Council to foster the development of low emission coal technologies in NSW.
The group is chaired by the NSW Department of Primary Industry (DPI) and is attended by coal companies, the Australian Coal Association, CSIRO, all NSW generators, the CO2 Co-operative Research Centre, and representatives of Government Departments.
As members of the Council, the NSW generators have completed a series of studies to assess the potential for geo-sequestration of carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers and coal seams. A review of legal issues regarding geological storage was also completed.
The reports identified potential large scale aquifer storage sites in the Darling Basin, and possible coal seams in the Gunnedah region. The depleted Moomba gas fields in South Australia have also been identified as a potential alternative storage site. The NSW Department of Primary Industry has undertaken similar geological modeling in the Sydney Basin to that undertaken by the NSW generators for the Darling Basin.
|