DOE Picks ADA-ES for Power Plant CO2 Removal Job
ADA-ES, Inc. of Littleton, Colo., on July 31 announced that it was selected by the Department of Energy to develop a technology that will capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants.
The company will be the prime contractor in what is expected to be a several million dollar project with the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory and several industry participants. Several major power producers interested in supporting the development of the technology have provided letters of commitment to contribute $1.2 million of the project funding. These participants include AEP, Luminant, Southern Company and Xcel Energy. In addition, the Electric Power Research Institute has agreed to support the project. Final scope of work and terms are to be worked out with DOE on the contract over the next two months.
The technology is being designed to provide a means of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases from coal-fired boilers. In the United States, there are 1,100 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 320 GWs of electricity and, as a group represent the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activity. ADA-ES will be developing emission reduction technology based around the use of solid sorbents. Most competing technologies use liquid solvents such as ammonia or amines to accomplish this task.
Michael Durham, Ph.D., president of ADA-ES, Inc., commented, "The political momentum for enacting carbon dioxide regulations at the state and national levels is rapidly growing, and technologies need to be developed that are going to meet the requirements in a cost-effective way."
The project is expected to start by Oct. 1, and last for three years. During that time, ADA-ES will be managing a team of technical experts and will be performing testing at several of the power producers on the team.