REPORT SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of this study is to determine what technologies exist to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and at what price, with a focus on the utility and power generation sector. A further goal is to determine what technologies are emerging that could compete with the existing technologies in use or displace those technologies. An objective of the study is to determine what the costs would be to the purchasers of carbon capture equipment and also what the impact would be on the consumer. Another objective is to determine which companies own the technologies to capture carbon dioxide and to determine how they are positioning their technology to compete against other technologies and if they were acquiring new technologies from start-up companies.
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY
With global warming receiving extended coverage in the popular media and being recognized as a global problem requiring the participation of most of the world’s governments and people to find a solution, this study seeks to define exactly what is being done by who with what expected results, at what cost. There remains a controversy over how much global warming there is and to what extent this is a man-made condition or a natural cycle of climate change. From this perspective, we seek to determine what can be expected during the next 5 years. This study discusses whether certain trends that are starting now can be expected to continue.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
The intended audience is all of the corporations or individuals who have an interest in reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and the companies that may wish to invest in, license, install, or acquire promising carbon dioxide capture technologies. This report is an impartial presentation of the best available technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. This technical marketing report should also be of interest to state utility regulators who must make decisions that affect billion-dollar investments by corporations as well as the future cost of electricity (COE) for the rate payers.
This report should also be of interest to subcontractors in the electric power construction industry, pipe manufacturers, and pipe fitters, as new electric power projects that capture carbon dioxide will need to pipe it from the site to a storage facility.
SCOPE OF THE REPORT
The report examines global markets for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology, the status of competing carbon capture technologies as well as global technological research and development (R&D) for carbon capture technologies to prevent global warming. It also covers technologies able to capture carbon dioxide from stationary sources at the point of emission. This report does not cover technologies that are used to capture other global warming gases such as methane, water vapor, or various oxides of sulfur or nitrogen.
Major market and market segments are measured and forecasted for several years, including 2009, and 5-year forecasts are made to 2014 in most cases.
METHODOLOGY
The initial task was to determine the technologies suited to capture carbon dioxide for electric power applications and determine the cost of those technologies based on the cost per megawatt (MW) of capacity. The Appendix lists companies that provide the technologies and which companies were buying and why. An additional analysis was to list projects for each of the key technologies, including the necessary parameters, the expected cost of the project, the size of the project in megawatts, and how much carbon dioxide the project might expect to capture per year. Those projects expected to start in the 2009–2014 time frame form the basis for the forecast of growth for the carbon capture technologies examined in this report with due respect to global economic conditions and demographics.
Taking into account the number of projects, another focus involved enumerating existing projects employing the same technologies to determine historic and current values for these technologies. Some legacy technologies have found uses in other industries and applications not related to the electric utility and not always related to just capturing carbon dioxide. The world’s oxygen market is discussed briefly to show the place of oxy-combustion activity in other applications. The baseline for estimates in this technical/marketing report is chosen as 1990.
Another parameter was to determine how much carbon dioxide in millions of metric tons (MTs) is being captured for the world merchant gas market, how much carbon dioxide is being consumed in the manufacture of other chemicals and products, and how much is being consumed by the tertiary method of oil recovery known as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This step included identifying the sources of carbon dioxide used in these applications by company, and included estimates of production for the U.S. and the rest of the world (ROW).
A search of THOMAS.gov (Library of Congress) and other sources was made to determine the many bills pending before Congress that will affect the regulation of carbon dioxide. A search of state records shows U.S. state legislation in effect or proposed for governing the emission of CO2. Regulation of CO2 on the international and national level is the driving force in CO2 capture, and those regulations were surveyed as well.
U.S. patents are examined, and more than 100 research projects taking place in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia also were studied to determine what new technologies were emerging that offer cheaper CO2 capture. All of these sources were considered and analyzed to determine the overall value of carbon dioxide capture during the next 5 years.
All tons in this report are MTs (2,205 lbs), not U.S. short tons (2,000 lbs), unless otherwise noted. The British spelling “tonne” is not used in this report
INFORMATION SOURCES
Sources of information include United Nation, U.S., European, Canadian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Brazilian, and Indian government reports, studies, research abstracts and status reports, press releases, conference presentations, and telephone and E-mail communications, including direct communications with the Secretary of Energy and the Department of Energy (DOE) Senior Advisor for Strategic Planning. Corporate information includes annual reports, quarterly reports, press releases, and information from corporate websites, corporate presentations to analysts, conference presentations, and published speeches by corporate executives as well as telephone and E-mail communications. This report does include some information from television reports and the print media.
An energy calculator of common units and conversions can be found at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) website[1] or at Wolfram Alpha’s website.[2]
ANALYST CREDENTIALS
RICHARD HILTON, ANALYST
Mr. Hilton has a broad business background that includes many years as an analyst, project manager, product manager, and director of marketing for a major industrial firm. He has managed business planning, marketing research, and communications and product development.
He has experience as an editor of newsletters exploring emerging technologies and also has taught mathematics. Mr. Hilton has a Bachelor of Science in Business Logistics from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University. Of special interest to this study is his work on clean air technologies, catalysts, and ultra-pure materials and alternative energy sources
ANNA CRULL, CONSULTANT
Ms. Crull has more than 30 years of experience as a research scientist in both government and private industry and as a business and technical analyst. She has a Bachelor of Science from the School of Engineering, University of Mississippi, and a Master of Science in chemistry from the University of Missouri. Her industry experience includes working as a rocket/missile systems specialist for the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal and on the development of recycled water systems for the Gemini spacecraft and materials used in tactile missiles. In addition to her extensive industry experience, she holds patents in the areas of polyurethane and polyester polymer formulation and their uses. She continues to work on special projects related to alternative energy, enhanced energy recovery, and air and water purification as related to clean coal technologies (CCTs).
Key areas of experience as a business and technical consultant have been in advanced technology areas with an emphasis on reliability, market forecasting, and utilization of intelligence and advanced materials technology. Her clients in both industry and government include DuPont, Fluor Corp, Corning, Inc., Coca-Cola, Bethlehem Steel, Chevron Research, Mobil Chemical, Sime Darby Group, Toray Industries America, Asahi Kasei, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Navy.
Projects include membrane and separation technologies, flame-retardant chemicals, commercial fluorine compounds, biopesticides, fillers and extenders for plastics, catalysts, and specialty chemicals for enhanced oil recovery, photovoltaic cells, proton exchange membranes, and battery separators. Analyses have also included monitors and sensors for air pollution and utilization of natural and synthetic zeolites.
Ms. Crull’s professional memberships have included the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi, European Membrane Society, and the North American Membrane Society.
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DISCLAIMER
The information developed in this report is intended to be as reliable as possible at the time of publication and of a professional nature. This information does not constitute managerial, legal, or accounting advice; nor should it serve as a corporate policy guide, laboratory manual, or an endorsement of any product, as much of the information is speculative in nature. The author assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage that might result from reliance on the reported information or its use.
