Aker Clean Carbon

Aker Clean Carbon, the carbon capture technology company, has invested more than AUD 70 million in carbon capture and storage technology and is planning to invest a further AUD 60 million by 2016. The company, together with partner Aker Solutions, hopes to introduce its patented carbon capture technology including a Mobile Test Facility to Australian energy companies.

Emissions of CO2 from burning fossil fuels rank among the biggest contributors to man-made climate change. The main fraction of CO2 disposal is related to large volume of flue gases from different types of industrial plants, such as gas- and coal-fired power stations. Currently, some 4,000 power stations account for 40 percent of man-made CO2 emissions.

Reducing these emissions is imperative to reduce or reverse future global warming and its consequences. In a paper delivered to the Carbon Capture and Storage World Conference held in Melbourne, Aker Clean Carbon's John Nustad notes that climate change experts and researchers, as well as the International Energy Agency (IEA), have recommended the retrofitting of carbon capture plants to large utility point sources in order to limit the economical impact of global warming.

"Several countries, including the UK, US, Netherlands and Norway, are now planning large scale pilot plants to be in operation between 2014 and 2015," says Mr Nustad. "The goal for these plants will be to demonstrate - in full scale - the carbon capture technology, safe transport and permanent storage of CO2."

Mr Nustad believes that Australia, as the largest exporter of coal in the world, has a real opportunity to lead the way in actively exploring applications of carbon capture and storage technology with Australian power producers. Of the three main alternative carbon capture technologies - pre- and post combustion and oxy-fuel - Mr Nustad says postcombustion technology would be the most appropriate approach in Australia.

"Post combustion systems can be retrofitted to existing fossil fuel power plants as well as on new builds. Furthermore, shutdown of the capture process will not interrupt power production."

Mr Nustad also addresses concerns regarding possible risks of carbon capture and CO2 storage.

"Aker Clean Carbon has experience from six different pilot plants since 1996 on CO2 capture from fluegas, and successfully demonstrated safe storing of around one million tonnes of CO2 per year offshore since that time from a gas sweeting plant."

"Everyone agrees that CO2 emissions need to be limited in order to stabilise global warming," says Mr Nustad. "Together with solar, nuclear, wind, energy efficiency and hydro technologies, carbon capture and storage is part of the solution."