June 29, 2010

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that three projects have been selected to receive up to US$612 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - matched by US$368 million in private funding - to demonstrate large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) from industrial sources.

The projects - located in Texas, Illinois, and Louisiana - were initially selected in October 2009 for phase one research and development grants. Following successful completion of their Phase 1 activities, these three projects were identified as the most promising industrial CCS projects through a competitive process and will now enter into Phase 2 with additional funding to begin design, construction and operation.

The project selections are aimed at testing large-scale industrial CCS, an important step in moving CCS technology toward eventual commercial deployment. The Obama Administration has made a goal of developing cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years, with an objective of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016.

"Capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground is a crucial technology as we build a clean energy future and address the threat of climate change," said Secretary Chu. "These investments will create jobs and help ensure that America can lead the world in the clean energy economy."

Projects announced include large-scale industrial CCS projects that capture CO2 emissions from industrial sources - - and store the CO2 in either a deep saline formation or via enhanced oil recovery. The selections announced are expected to capture and store 6.5 million tons of CO2 per year- the equivalent of removing nearly one million cars off the road- and increase domestic production of oil by more than 10 million barrels per year by the end of the demonstration period in September 2015.

Phase 2 of these projects includes US$612 million in Recovery Act funding and US$368 million in private sector cost-sharing for a total investment of US$980 million. The projects will be managed by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Potential additional applications for funding of large-scale industrial CCS projects are pending further review.

Source: Zeus Syngas Refining Report, June 25, 2010