GHG Monitor
5/9/2014
IN EUROPEAN UNION
The European Commission said Monday that most heavy industry businesses that had been receiving free carbon permits would be likely to keep them. Under the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, power plants, factories, airlines and other large emitters are required to surrender a permit for every tonne of gas emitted. Much of Europe’s heavy industry has received these permits for free to help them compete in global markets. Of 245 industry sectors evaluated to update the “carbon leakage list,” 175 were recommended to continue receiving free permits. Those on the list include steel plants and cement producers, while producers of veneer wood panels and sawmill operators fell off of it. This list will be in effect from 2015-19.
IN INDUSTRY
Shell has joined a joint industry project studying enhanced oil recovery in the North Sea. Project leader, Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS), and its existing JIP partners, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, 2Co Energy and Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd welcomed Shell, as a second phase of research is beginning in the North Sea. The JIP will focus on gaining a better understanding of the use of CO2 in EOR operations, and potentially extending the life of North Sea oil fields using captured CO2 for EOR and permanently storing it in the offshore oil reservoirs.
IN DOE
Babcock & Wilcox Company, along with the Ohio State University, have been awarded $2.5 million by the Department of Energy to continue the development of carbon capture technology. The award will help fund further development of iron-based Coal Direct Chemical Looping (CDCL) technology which has been a collaborative effort between B&W and the university. B&W and Ohio State University hope that the technology they have developed will capture carbon for a lower cost than conventional capture technologies. “Innovative solutions to capture and sequester CO2 are essential to coal’s future as a clean energy option in the United States,” said B&W Power Generation Group President and Chief Operating Officer J. Randall Data.
