UKCCSC News 19 Dec 2007

Hi Folks,

Here are more capture-ready-Christmas-crackers-for-your-conspicuous-consumption than I’ve got fingers, so the numbering might be a bit dodgy. If only I’d trained as an engineer…

1) Our very own Stuart Haszeldine has been going his bit for Public Dissemination, you can see the results in these multimedia displays (which means ‘on a computer’ as far as I can tell). They report an EPSRC-funded project that involves Heriot-Watt University and the BGS, as well as the University of Edinburgh and industrial partners. The media coverage may not make this entirely clear...

BBC with link to radio clip:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7123936.stm

Scotsman http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1885152007

STV News   http://www.stv.tv/content/news/headlines/display.html?id=opencms:/news/Scientists_examine_carbon_dioxide_reduct_2007120

Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=499360&in_page_id=1965

2) The Bali talks were either a resounding success or a total failure, depending on the outcome you’d hoped for, I guess. The following article has a readable summary with a research slant:

“The agreed text lacks specific targets for reducing CO2 emissions, though it does acknowledge that “deep cuts” will be needed. But as everybody now knows the US again seemed content to play the villain and to block 25-40% target cuts by 2020. In reality the whole fortnight of jousting between 190 governments was not a great deal more than a loosening up exercise for the negotiations to come over the next two years or so.”

http://www.sciencebusiness.net/wordpress/2007/12/18/research-may-have-to-take-the-strain/

3) Anyone fancy a holiday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? No, I thought not.

If you change your mind the Seventh Annual Conference on Carbon Capture & Sequestration will be held there, May 5 - 8, 2008, hosted by NETL.

http://www.carbonsq.com/

4) Some capture news for once, involving an “ammonia-based solution” suitable for retro-fitting or new build:

“Powerspan Licenses CO2 Capture Technology for Coal-Fueled Power Plants from the U.S. Department of Energy” CNN

“The "ECO2(TM)" process is a post-combustion CO2 capture process for conventional power plants that is differentiated from other approaches by its simpler capital equipment design and significantly lower energy consumption.”

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEM05303122007-1.htm

5) Something for the social acceptance people:

“EarthFirst! blockade at coal-fired power plant in Rotterdam, NL”

“The term 'Capture Ready preparation' used by E.on is a fraud. A carbon-capturing power plant will use between 24 and 40 percent of its produced energy on the capture process. It must therefore burn more coal to provide the same amount of output energy as a non carbon-capturing power plant. The type of plant E.on is about to build has proven to be extremely unsuitable for carbon storage. … E.on's promise to start capturing carbon 'as soon as it is technically and commercially viable' is therefore completely pointless and has only resulted in an empty spot on the blueprints, reserved for a future capturing installation.”

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387350.html

5) “Ottawa must back oilsands' carbon plan without haste” Financial Post, Canada

“An alliance of 15 Canadian oilsands, chemical and power companies proposed Monday a multi-billion-dollar plan to capture and store greenhouse gases in what would be the country's single-largest carbon dioxide-reduction initiative. They say they are willing to pay their part -- billions, in fact -- to get this off the ground.”

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=141669

6) Jon Gibbins sent a report by the (UK) Council for Science and Technology entitled “Strategic decision making for technology”, The remit was to identify technologies that will make an impact in 5 – 10 years and are worthy of investment. There is a section on CCS which concludes: “The window of opportunity in which Government action can secure the UK’s lead on CCS is, therefore, narrow. Heavy investment by other nations means the Government must act with urgency if the UK is to sustain a position of leadership. A cross-Government approach involving BERR, Defra, and the Energy Technologies Institute will be important.” There is a web-page, but it just says that the report will appear here in the autumn. Better hurry up then!

http://www2.cst.gov.uk/cst/business/strategic_focus.shtml

7) If you are looking for a job, try the following, the University of Leeds is seeking to make three Research Council UK Fellowship appointments, including:

"CO2 Sequestration & Utilisation (Job ref 312275) - The Fellowship will focus on interdisciplinary research critical to either the geological sequestration of CO2 within the Faculty of the Environment or the "re-use" of CO2 via novel chemical processes within the Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MAPS).”

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/vacancies/index.htm

8) GHGT-9 will be in Washington DC, 16 – 20th November 2008. Abstracts will be accepted up to March 28, 2008.

http://mit.edu/ghgt9/papers/index.html

9) And following on from the last issue of News, Hilary Clinton’s website is below, along with her energy manifesto, which as green as grass. It contains the following quote:

“To accelerate the development of this important technology, Hillary would put immediate funding towards 10 large scale carbon capture and storage projects that utilize a range of coal types, power plant types, and storage locations. She will move quickly to develop the regulatory framework to ensure that carbon sequestration can be done safely and reliably. And she will require all new coal plants to be capable of adding capture and storage technology when it becomes commercially available”

www.hillaryclinton.com/files/pdf/poweringamericasfuture.pdf

www.hillaryclinton.com/

10) And your reward for reading this far, is the following quote concerning the use of seaweed as a long-term carbon store:

“In addition to storing carbon, seaweed would need to be used to produce clean-burning biofuels, thereby ensuring the carbon dioxide isn't simply recycled back into the air as it would be if the seaweed is eaten.”

Is this as daft as it sounds, or have I missed something?

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gP5gSLJdrDNV8lxfwJisS6L8h9hgD8TE3GMG0

11) Oh, and “Sustainable Energy UK” conference in Oxford, May 13-14th, has extended the deadline for paper and poster abstracts to January 7th. So you can spend Xmas re-writing the abstract you hurried off for the already-extended deadline last week…

Details from Jennifer.otoadese@ouce.ox.ac.uk

Seasonal greetings, have a good holiday

Mark