Opportunities for Decarbonizing Existing U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants via CO2 Capture, Utilization and Storage

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• 作者：Haibo Zhai ; Yang Ou ; Edward S. Rubin
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：July 7, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：49
• 期：13
• 页码：7571-7579
• 全文大小：380K
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

This study employs a power plant modeling tool to explore the feasibility of reducing unit-level emission rates of CO₂ by 30% by retrofitting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to existing U.S. coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). Our goal is to identify feasible EGUs and their key attributes. The results indicate that for about 60 gigawatts of the existing coal-fired capacity, the implementation of partial CO₂ capture appears feasible, though its cost is highly dependent on the unit characteristics and fuel prices. Auxiliary gas-fired boilers can be employed to power a carbon capture process without significant increases in the cost of electricity generation. A complementary CO₂ emission trading program can provide additional economic incentives for the deployment of CCS with 90% CO₂ capture. Selling and utilizing the captured CO₂ product for enhanced oil recovery can further accelerate CCUS deployment and also help reinforce a CO₂ emission trading market. These efforts would allow existing coal-fired EGUs to continue to provide a significant share of the U.S. electricity demand.