Coal transport

This Technology Transfer Advances Viet Nam's

• Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce GHG emissions by 8% compared to Business-as-Usual by 2030, in line with the Government's prioritized policies, such as renewable energy development. 

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This Technology Transfer Advances Mauritius'

• Nationally Determined Contribution to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, by the year 2030, relative to the business as usual scenario of 7 million metric tonnes CO2equivalent.

Context 

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is implementing a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project entitled “Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emission in Industrial Sector through Pelletization Technology in Lao PDR” in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology Lao PDR. The goal of the project is to promote the production and usage of industrial grade solid bio-fuel (pellets) for replacing coal and wood.

Seambiotic is the first in the world with proprietary technology for growing marine microalgae in open ponds using flue gas and recycled seawater from power plant. Seambiotic is also the first in the world to successfully connect directly to a power plant’s smokestack for direct consumption of CO2. The Company currently holds patent applications on the technology. Seambiotic was initially established to produce and sell Omega 3 fatty acid products from marine microalgae.

Coal is a fossil fuel that can be found in abundance on the earth. Unlike oil and gas which is found in unstable countries coal resources are found in politically and socially stable countries. Approximately 75% of the world’s coal resources are located in the United States China and India. Currently coal supplies 21% of the world’s energy demands and reserves are expected to last 250 years. When coal is burned energy is released. Unfortunately burning coal releases carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere which causes environmental damage.

Stage of DevelopmentThe technology is at an advanced phase of development. It needs further testing before the commercial implementation as viable mechanism to control CO2 emission. It has been developed as a low scale model and requires further research and optimization before it can be converted into a cost effective industrial process.Future DevelopmentFuture efforts will be concentrated on testing an optimal harvesting method for the algae including determining the duration and intensity of the lighting cycles used for their growth.

Eleven metals and their species are being considered for regulation under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments arousing significant interest in metal capture technologies. We have developed a process that greatly reduces toxic metal emissions from combustors. Our process provides lower mass transfer resistance and better mixing than existing methods. It also allows a choice of kinetic conditions making it possible to favor faster reactions. Our process converts toxic metals to benign materials and produces particles in a size distribution that allows them to be readily captured.

This patented dense catalytic membrane is designed to retrofit existing pulverized coal power plants for large-scale postcombustion carbon capture. The technology takes advantage of the nitrogen (N2) driving force and high temperatures of flue gas to effectively remove N2 and isolate CO2 for transport and storage. Compared to the current amine scrubbing techniques (e.g. MEA-based systems) of a similar scale the proposed membrane approach would have lower capital costs and land requirements with decreased parasitic power loads.

Carbon capture technologies are only as good as their ability to prevent leaking of carbon dioxide back into the environment. Utilities that invest in advanced coal plants with carbon capture technologies need to prove that the carbon stays where it is stored. The mixing of carbon dioxide from biofuel production also requires monitoring.

Background: In 2008 coal-fired power plants generated 49 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. more than twice that of any other energy resource. Coal is an important fossil fuel because world coal reserves are expected to last about 200 years much longer than other fossil fuels. However coal also is a major contributor to atmospheric pollution. The emissions per unit energy produced from coal-fired power plants are reduced when the efficiency is increased because more energy is captured per unit of coal burned.