CCS is a process that allows carbon dioxide to be captured from power stations and then stored underground to prevent it from entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
CCS is a technology that is advancing all the time and could well make fossil-fuelled generation a true low-carbon source of energy.
Project teams led by the universities of Nottingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Leeds will investigate combustion and CO2 capture and transport technologies that could help make a crucial step towards meeting UK and global emission reduction targets.
The three projects funded under the E.ON/EPSRC Partnership are:
The University of Nottingham will lead a consortium of four universities looking at how the surfaces of materials can be chemically altered to enhance C02 absorption or ‘soak up’ rates. This may be an alternative to chemical absorption using amines in post-combustion capture systems. The other participants are the University of Birmingham, the University of Liverpool and University College London.
Newcastle University is leading a project to address some of the technical and material challenges of large-scale transportation of C02 through pipelines. This will help the development of a storage pipeline network. The other members of the group are University College London, the University of Nottingham, Cranfield University, and Imperial College London as well as range of industry partners.
Leeds University, Imperial College London, Cranfield University, the University of Kent, the University of Nottingham and the University of Cambridge are working on the oxyfuel combustion process in which coal is burned in a mix of pure oxygen and power station flue gases, creating a stream of CO2 that can be captured for storage.
The EPSRC is funding a fourth consortium, led by the University of Edinburgh, on improving the economics of large-scale carbon capture and storage and how to separate C02 formed by emissions from fossil fuel power stations.
Announcing the funding, Dr Paul Golby, the chief executive of E.ON, said: CCS is the most important technology we have in the fight against climate change – if we can get it right then we can look forward to a secure, low carbon energy future for the UK.
Alongside new nuclear and renewable sources, coal is a vital part of our energy mix. These latest research projects are vital in identifying solutions that will enable fossil-fuel generation to be a key part of maintaining secure, affordable and low carbon energy.
Collaborations such as this one with EPSRC are combining innovation and some of the best minds in our universities to deliver clean, sustainable energy systems for the future.
The UK is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. In the short-term the Government advisory body, the Committee for Climate Change, has suggested an interim cut of at least 34% by 2020.
David Delpy, EPSRC chief executive, said: This illustrates the enormous benefit that can arise from strategic partnerships like the one we have with E.ON.
Carbon capture and storage is already a research priority for UK researchers and through previous Research Council funding we have built up a significant expertise within the academic sector. The research programmes we’re announcing today mean that we can rapidly build on this expertise and speed up the introduction of these vital greener energy technologies.
