PG&E has piloted a laser methane detection device developed by Acutect. The technology was selected following a methane detector challenge organized by the Environmental defense fund.
The US Energy Department is to put some $44 million into 16 CO2 storage projects under its Carbon storage assurance facility enterprise (CarbonSafe) initiative, which seeks to mitigate CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Cement, iron and steel production, which currently account some 21% of US carbon emissions are to be targeted.
ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy are to deploy a multi-megawatt
fuel cell system at Alabama’s James M. Barry power plant. The system
combines carbon capture with a carbonate fuel cell and clean power
generation from natural gas. The pilot is part-funded by the US
Department of Energy.
The Global CCS Institute has just released a State of the Industry
report on carbon capture and storage. The report concludes that ‘the
pace of carbon capture and storage development must be accelerated if
the Paris climate change targets are to be met.’ It is however worth
noting that recent press comment questions whether the incoming US
administration will continue to support CCS.
A new publication from the US National Academic Press, ‘The changing landscape of hydrocarbon feedstocks’ looks at the US shale gas boom and the potential for converting small amounts of stranded or associated gases to ‘condensable energy carriers,’ and thus to curtail well-head methane flaring and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Oil and gas climate initiative has announced a $1 billion investment to accelerate development and deployment of innovative low emissions technologies. The initial focus of the OGCI is on wide scale carbon capture, use and storage, enhancing the role of natural gas and on energy efficiency in transport and industry. Members are BP, CNPC, Eni, Pemex, Reliance Industries, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Statoil and Total
Finally, in the green, but somewhat improbable category we have ‘HyMeAir,’ a ‘new-age’ company whose Nano Towers are to ‘get rid of carbon dioxide and extract energy’ from the atmosphere. A modest 90% reduction in energy cost is claimed by ‘extracting hydrogen and methane from air!’
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