Biomass/CCS power plant could cut CO2 emissions
20 May 2011
London – The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has unveiled plans for a power plant combining biomass energy generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The plant is one of three proposed projects announced by the ETI – a public-private consortium, which is developing industrial solutions to help the UK meet its renewable energy and emissions targets.
The biomass-CCS plant will have an initial budget of £455,000 for the six-month consultation phase and will be led by CMCL Innovations in conjunction with Cambridge University, Doosan Babcock, Drax Power, EDF Energy, E4tech, Imperial Consultants and Leeds University.
The other two ETI projects will be a trial to assess the impact of energy crops on land use and an evaluation of the overall bio-energy supply chain.
As biomass power generation is carbon neutral by itself, so CCS could help to able to achieve net reductions in carbon emissions, said the ETI.
According to the Institue, the plant will use various second-generation feedstocks, including short-rotation coppice, miscanthus, willow and poplar, but will probably not be equipped to handle municipal solid or commercial industrial waste
A consultation phase is now under way to decide the exact energy conversion technology it will employ, which could involve the basic combustion of crops or more advanced approaches such as gasification or combined heat and power (CHP) generation.
However, Akira Kirton, the ETI’s technology strategy manager, said one of the key challenges will be in combining energy generation with the CCS phase.
“There are clearly differences between biomass as a feedstock versus coal or gas, and that can be both positive and negative. Coal tends to have much more sulphur, which is an issue during [carbon] separation, whereas biomass tends to have more halides – alkaline metals – which means that corrosion tends to be a larger issue [in CCS].”
