Whether more
carbon capture facilities such as this one will be built remains to be seen, but it's encouraging to see that it can be one of many that are being explored.
For carbon capture facilities near oilfields, the possibility of selling carbon dioxide for use in enhanced oil recovery — even at a lower credit rate — will likely yield higher returns than other types of carbon storage, making it an enticing option.
Industrial -
scale carbon capture facilities like the Great Plains Synfuel Plant in Beulah, North Dakota (which pipes CO2 to Canada, where it is injected into oil wells to improve oil recovery), already exist, and leaks have never been detected.
Carbon use can create markets forCO2 emissions,
giving carbon capture facilities a new revenue stream that can make them competitive with other power generators.
In cooperation with AEP, the French company Alstom unveiled the world's largest
carbon capture facility at a coal plant, so called «clean coal,» which will store around 100,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year 2,1 kilometers (7,200 feet) underground.
In a blog post after the passage of the budget, the Natural Resources Defense Council said carbon capture can act as a «useful tool,» but also expressed concerns that the legislation weakened standards
for carbon capture facilities.
The capital for
the carbon capture facility, by comparison, were approximately $ 635 million for Petra Nova.
Such
carbon capture facilities would be most cost - effective and efficient when placed right beside fossil fuel power plants, but this option is still costly compared to solar and wind power.