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Blog Post: £100m turbine plan nears end as Drax eyes CCS success

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:38:00 GMT

By Ben Pindar, Deputy Editor - Yorkshire Insider

Drax Power Station chiefs have said they are optimistic about success in the government's carbon capture and storage competition as a major £100m investment programme at its North Yorkshire site nears completion.

The company is close to completing work on the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history as it aims to cement its position as the nation's "most-efficient" coal-fired power station.

Under the five-year project, which was carried out by Siemens, Drax said the efficiency of the turbines will increase to 40 per cent while cutting carbon dioxide emissions by one million tonnes a year – equivalent to taking 275,000 cars off the road.

The improvement programme forms part of Drax's ongoing plans to improve its green credentials, which include conversion to biomass burning and the ambitious carbon capture and storage proposals it is putting forward to government with BOC and Alstom.

With just days to go before the turbine conversion is completed on Drax's six electricity generation units, production director Peter Emery said carbon reduction lies at the very heart of the business strategy.

He said: "When we set off on this journey six or seven years ago, carbon capture and storage was seen as a silver bullet for solving the problems faced by this sector. However, we realised that technology is still ten or 15 years away and we made carbon reduction an integral part of our plans.

"We set out three key steps. One was to make the plant more efficient to help cut carbon, the next was to move ahead with biomass conversion and the third was to position ourselves for carbon capture and storage in the future.

"This turbine project is a major part of the drive for better efficiency and is a significant investment. It's been a long-term project and the development of biomass burning has run in parallel with this.

"The installation of the final turbines is a major milestone for Drax and means the station is now fully upgraded."

The site was producing 22 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year before the efficiency drive and it is also now burning 1.3 million tonnes a year of biomass in place of coal.

Emery said biomass was still a priority, but added Drax was still awaiting a decision from the government about support for biomass conversion before it could progress the technology further.

The company has also submitted an ambitious bid for a carbon capture and storage plant to the government's new competition for the technology. Called the 'White Rose CCS Project', Emery is upbeat about its chances.

He added: "Entries for the contest close in July and the feedback is due in the third quarter of this year. We're very optimistic about making the shortlist and we're very enthusiastic about the plan.

"We're confident that, if we're successful, the plant will be fully operational by 2020 along with the pipeline and the under sea storage. There's long negotiations ahead, but we see it as the future of this business."

Resource Page: UK Offshore Wind Supply Chain Conference

James Robinson — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:35:00 GMT

As part of The Crown Estate's third round of national offshore wind supply chain events, Regen SW and partners from Offshore Wind England are hosting an event at the NEC on 31 May.

Building on the success of previous years, this event will be an excellent opportunity for businesses to engage with the major offshore wind developers and tier one suppliers to understand how they can expand their presence or break into this growing industry.

If you are interested in exhibiting or attending this event, please find further details on the Regen SW website: www.regensw.co.uk/events/

If you would like to know about wind technology or what renewable system is most appropriate for your site, please contact CO2Sense on 0113 237 8400.

Resource: Renewable Energy - Resources

Anonymous — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:35:00 GMT

Blog Post: Costing the Earth programme on coal and CCS

stephen.brown@co2sense.co.uk — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:08:00 GMT

Last night's Costing the Earth on Radio 4 covered the topic of coal and latterly CCS. You can find the link here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h6674

About 20 minutes in the programme disucssed costs and the figure of at least £70 per year of additional cost on an annual electricity bill due to CCS was put forward. I would be interested in your thoughts on this, given that DECC estimate that current renewables subsidies put around £30 per year on customers bills.

Steve

Forum Post: E-Futures Seminar Series: Planning and design of an offshore wind farm

Dawn Scott — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:57:00 GMT

All are welcome to attend the next talk in the E-Futures seminar series on offshore wind power.

Date: 14^th May 2012

Start time: 13.00

End time: 14.00

Venue: LT22 Sir Robert Hadfield Building, University of Sheffield, Mappin St, Sheffield, S1 3TD

Speaker: Tom Pascall, Offshore Project Engineer, RES Offshore

Contact: dtp10dms@sheffield.ac.uk

Web link: http://e-futures.group.shef.ac.uk/page/news-and-events/article/56/

Description: Tom will discuss recent developments in the wind industry and give examples of the construction of a wind farm. With as much audience participation as possible, he hopes to answer the following questions: How long does it take to construct a wind farm? What are the advantages and dis-advantages of going off-shore? What kinds of jobs are involved?

Speaker profile: Tom Pascall graduated from Loughborough and worked as a design engineer in a fabrication shop in Barnsley. His first job in renewable energy was to work for Pulse Tidal where he developed a tidal energy device in the Humber Estuary. Tom then moved to Renewable Energy Systems, who are based near London. As Offshore Project Engineer for RES Offshore, he now works on the construction of a wind farm in the North Sea near Skegness, and the planning of a large wind farm in the Irish Sea.

RES Offshore offers integrated development, engineering, construction and O&M services for utility-scale renewable energy projects from offshore wind to wave and tidal. RES Offshore is part of the RES Group, one of the world's leading renewable energy project developers with 30 years' experience of the renewables industry. To date, RES has delivered more than 5000MW of wind energy capacity worldwide.

Blog Post: Resources North - project no longer live

Helen Peacock — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:55:00 GMT

Dear Network Members

Some of you will have noticed that things have been a bit quiet on the Resources North front! Apologies for this.

We decided some time ago that we would move away from annual subscriptions and offer instead low-cost per-event pricing to those who had been members and to other organisations across Yorkshire and the Humber.

However, as you will have seen, we had to postpone the event planned for October 2011 and decided not to re-run it in February 2012, as we have been unable to achieve the number of attendees needed to make holding the events worthwhile - both for Resources North and its audience.

Therefore, it is with sadness that I have to confirm - what many of you already know - that the project is no longer live and we have no plans to deliver any seminars in this financial year. However, if this changes, or if you are interested in using the Resources North brand to communicate to a range of stakeholders with a shared interest in resource efficiency, particularly sustainable waste management, then please get in touch.

Thank you for your support of Resources North. The project has delivered a huge number of high quality events since its inception in 1993 (when it was called Recycle North). I hope you found them useful and remember the Forum fondly.

Forum Post: Energy Research Project Presentations at Sheffield

Neil Lowrie — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:56:00 GMT

PhD students undertaking interdisciplinary energy research will present the results of their second mini-project. Presentations take place over three days. Guests are welcome to attend all or part of each day.

14th May

09:00 Welcome

09:15 Photovoltaics and community dynamics around energy and sustainability, Aimie Hope

09:30 Nanowire Photovoltaics, Alex Barrows

09:45 Thermochromic Films for Solar PV, Ben Crozier

10:00 Understanding X-ray scattering data from plastic solar cell materials, Jonathan Shimwell

10:15 Preparation of a new electron acceptor for use in plastic solar cells, Jonathan Goodwin

10:30 Break

10:45 Photo-excitable ruthenium(II) chromophore quencher complexes for charge separation, Rachel Thorley

11:00 Organic Photovoltaic characterisation and stabilisation, Goudarz Poursharif

11:15 Synthesis & Characterisation of Novel Li-Ion Battery Materials, John Bradley

11:30 Synthesis & Characterisation of Novel Li-Ion Battery Materials, Elliott Carrington

11:45 Technologies for improved reciprocating internal combustion engine sustainability, Liam Chisman

12:00 Metal Organic Frameworks, James Lloyd

15th May

12:30 Welcome

12:45 Integration of Biological Wastewater Treatment and Algal Growth for Biofuels, Richard Smith

13:00 Microbial fuel cells, Vi Nguyen

13:15 Torrefaction of Biomass, Charlotte Bjork

13:30 Active woodchip drying trials, Emma Ireland

13:45 Genetic engineering of plants, Chris Hepworth

14:00 break

14:15 Biofouling in Tidal Stream Generation Systems, Jacob Gower

14:30 Thermochemical energy storage, Ahmad Qasid

14:45 Use of microreactor Ozone dousing lance for reduced energy consumption, Donald Willey

15:00 Design and/or build of a pedal power water pump in Malawi, Alex Buckman

15:15 Novel Materials for domestic Gas Burners, Philip Carpenter

15:30 break

15:45 Understanding energy use behaviour in under-performing buildings at the University, Colin Whittle

16:00 Energy Modelling and Performance Evaluation of Selected University Buildings, Faisal Abubaker

16:15 Is energy consumption in non-domestic buildings accounted for? Clare Stevenson

16:30 Acquiring data for energy modelling of a supermarket, Martin Braun

16th May

14:30 Welcome

14:45 Impacts of Climate Changes on Hydropower Resources in Alpine Regions, James Douglas

15:00 Microhydropower effects on invertebrate river populations, James Uttley

15:15 Natural and anthropogenic trace gas emissions and aerosols in relation to energy consumption & global environment change, Nichola Austen

15:30 Climate Change Modeling, Supatchalee Sophonthammaphat

15:45 break

16:00 Carbon capture & Storage, Timinyo Owei

16:15 Carbon capture & Storage, Rory Campbell

16:30 Ground Energy - Visualisation of heat transfer in thermal piles, Nicola Lazenby

16:45 Assessment of demand-side management technologies, Rob Raine

Venue: University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, (Building 172 Grid H2), Lecture Theatre 21

http://e-futures.group.shef.ac.uk/page/news-and-events/article/55/

Blog Post: Carbon capture and storage: lessons from the competition for the first UK demonstration

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:15:00 GMT

The National Audit Office reported last month on the competition, cancelled in October 2011, to design, construct and operate the UK's first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage project.

The competition was launched in 2007 by the then Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. It was cancelled four years later by the Department of Energy and Climate Change on the grounds of protecting value for money and because the project could not be funded within the £1 billion budget agreed at the 2010 Spending Review. Today's report concludes that the competition had been a high risk and challenging undertaking launched with insufficient planning and recognition of the commercial risks.

However, the results of engineering and design studies completed by bidders, upon which the Government spent £40 million (63 per cent of the £64 million it spent in total on the competition), may help to reduce the costs of future carbon capture and storage projects. The cost of the competition was relatively small compared to the investment required to develop CCS at commercial scale and the competition has increased the Department's experience in this field and understanding of project costs. DECC now plans to pursue other carbon capture and storage projects using the £1 billion capital fund. The NAO has made recommendations for the Department to address in its future programme.

The former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform had wanted industry to take up a commercial contract for a large and potentially costly developmental project, even though there was considerable uncertainty over its design and costs.

Neither DECC nor its predecessor engaged sufficiently early with the commercial risk involved. During the competition, DECC's decisions to continue were not informed by detailed consideration of the probability of reaching acceptable contract terms and the time lost should the competition not succeed. The inability to agree mutually acceptable terms with all members of the consortium contributed to DECC's decision to cancel the competition. For its new programme, the Department needs to understand fully its commercial proposition to industry.

Lack of clarity over government finance for the project delayed the early stages of the competition. When a capital budget was decided in October 2010, there was no agreement on government funding for operational costs. For its new programme, the Department and Treasury should be clear on the public investment available and establish any affordability constraint.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today:

"In the context of value for money, developing new technologies is an inherently risky undertaking. Taking calculated risks is perfectly acceptable if those risks are managed effectively; but in this case DECC, and its predecessor, took too long to get to grips with the significant technical, commercial and regulatory risks involved.

"Four years down the road, commercial scale carbon capture and storage technology has still to be developed. The Department must learn the lessons of the failure of this project if further time is not to be lost, and value for money achieved on future projects."

Click here for full report

Click here for FT article responding to the report

Blog Post: Crown Estate's announces revised position on their role in leasing CO2 storage sites

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:08:00 GMT

“What we do

In addition to regulatory permission from the Government, developers require a lease from us to use the seabed for CO₂ storage.

An AfL provides the time and rights for developers to obtain a licence from DECC, appraise the prospective storage site and develop the detailed storage plan to underpin a permit application. The lease itself provides the rights to install, commission, operate and maintain storage infrastructure, and store CO₂ permanently in the permitted storage site. It also provides the time for the tenant to carry out closure, decommissioning and post closure monitoring obligations.

The Crown Estate's revised policy on granting of rights

The Crown Estate's previous policy has been to grant an AfL in respect of a particular area of the continental shelf to applicants that have been successful in securing funding for a project in that area from certain specified EU or UK competitions.

The Crown Estate has revised its policy and it is now willing to consider grants of AfLs to all applicants who haveapplied for(but have not necessarily yet won) funding from UK and EU competitions, whether or not currently in existence, conducted by public authorities for the purposes of providing financial assistance to carbon capture and storage projects, including part chain projects such as storage site exploration, appraisal and development. Competitions currently meeting this condition include the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), phases 1 and 2 of the New Entrant Reserve (NER300) programme, and the forthcoming Department of Energy and Climate Change competition to support the UK's CCS delivery programme.

The Crown Estate will publicly advertise proposals to grant AfLs for a two month period on its website and in the newsletter of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association. This process will give people notice that The Crown Estate intends to allocate an AfL to the site and therefore that the site will no longer be available to subsequent applicants. The [advertisement/notice] will invite comments from interested parties. The Crown Estate believes that this change in policy could further speed up the development of carbon storage projects - as it should allow carbon storage businesses and petroleum licence holders to start negotiating the terms of the co-existence on the continental shelf at an earlier point in time.

The alteration in policy raises the possibility that multiple persons could submit applications for an AfL in respect of the same area of the continental shelf or that third parties could raise objections to the proposed grant of an AfL.

If there were multiple valid applications or valid objections, then The Crown Estate reserves its right not to grant an AfL to any applicant, depending on the circumstances of each particular case.. The applicants will still be able to enter funding competitions and develop their storage proposal according to the relevant competition timetable. In such situations The Crown Estate will only grant an AfL once the authority conducting the competition makes a funding award decision.

The policy that we have outlined should be viewed as a temporary one, which will be reviewed in 6 months by The Crown Estate, in light of experience. This will give The Crown Estate the opportunity to test out the policy alongside the evolving funding streams and new UK competition process.

We are keen to support the development of CO₂ storage projects, and understand that it may be necessary for a developer applying for EU or UK funding to demonstrate how they will obtain the necessary rights to store CO₂ at a specific site. Where appropriate, we can also support such applications by setting out the process by which we will grant storage rights in a letter that can be submitted as part of a prospective developer's application for funding.

Any such rights granted by us will be conditional upon an applicant obtaining a suitable carbon storage permit as the Lease is dependent on the permitfrom DECC or the Scottish Government (in relation to Scottish territorial waters around Scotland).

Throughout 2012 we will continue to work up our template lease agreement with the entrants to the DECC 2012 competition, EEPR winner and NER entrants. A standard form of lease will be made available to wider industry for their information. This standard form will be open to amendment depending on future competition guidelines.”

Click here for more details

Blog Post: Yorkshire network “best placed to win DECC £1bn CCS competition”

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:10:00 GMT

A network of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects in Yorkshire is well-placed to win the £1bn competition which was announced today by the government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change, it was claimed today.

Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, announced a new competition to support projects that will demonstrate how CCS can be cost-effective on a commercial scale. Over £1bn is available for projects that can become part of a full-chain CCS network and which can be operational by 2016-2020.

According to Leeds-based low-carbon experts CO2Sense, the network of CCS projects already planned in Yorkshire and the Humber meets the new criteria for the competition and is the only network in the UK capable of developing the full infrastructure that the industry requires.

Dr Stephen Brown, Director of Strategy and Innovation at CO2Sense and Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber industrial CCS group said: “The government has moved away from concentrating on single end-to-end projects and is now inviting applications from projects that can demonstrate links with other projects through, for example, shared transport pipelines and storage infrastructure. Yorkshire and the Humber is already well advanced in this area, and should be top of the list for the government funding.”

CCS projects in Yorkshire and the Humber include the Don Valley Power Project, which has already been awarded €180m from the EU and which announced a significant investment from the global construction company Samsung last week, as well as the project at the Drax site near Selby which is backed by Drax, Alstom and BOC.

Welcoming the announcement, local MP Julian Smith said: “This is unquestionably the best location in Europe to commercialise CCS. With several high-quality projects, backed up with serious private-sector funding and all collaborating with a single CO2 transport infrastructure provider, it is clearly the right place to develop the infrastructure that will support the whole CCS industry. So I welcome the announcement by The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, in which he has brought forward the DECC competition so that it aligns with the EU funding competition. This will help to ensure that the CCS programme in the UK will be affordable for UK businesses and households”

Dr Brown added, “This project could lead to thousands of jobs as well as significant private sector investment, which is welcome news at a time when growth is high on everyone’s agenda.”

More details on today's announcement please see http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_040/pn12_040.aspx

Blog Post: SAMSUNG C&T ENTERS EUROPE’S CARBON CAPTURE RACE

Hugh Goulbourne — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:40:00 GMT

Summary:

1. Samsung C&T agrees to take strategic 15 per cent stake in 2Co Energy’s Don Valley Power Project

2. The Don Valley Power Project will create thousands of UK jobs, boost national energy security and supply low carbon electricity to one million UK homes from the end of 2016

3. Samsung C&T and 2Co Energy Ltd agree to develop jointly the 650MW Don Valley Power Project – the UK’s most advanced CCS project which is bidding for European and UK funding

2Co Energy Limited and Samsung C&T (Construction & Trading) announced today that the Korean construction company has agreed to take a strategic 15 per cent stake in 2Co Energy’s Don Valley Power Project – widely regarded as one of Europe’s most advanced and economically viable Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects.

The planned 650MW Don Valley Power Project in South Yorkshire will capture at least 90 per cent of its CO2 emissions and provide low carbon electricity to the equivalent of a million UK homes from the end of 2016. It will use the captured CO2 to recover around 150 million barrels of ‘hard to reach’ North Sea oil before safely and permanently storing it in the oil fields. The oil produced will generate billions of pounds of taxation revenue for the UK government and significantly reduce the overall cost of CCS to the UK.

The deal will also see Samsung C&T take on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the onshore power project in South Yorkshire. In reaching this stage of the project, Samsung has been supported by AMEC plc. Total investment in the onshore power project is expected to be about £3billion. Planning permission for the power plant has already been granted and 2Co Energy plans to start main construction in 2013 if its bid to win a further round of EU and UK funding is successful.

Yeon-Joo Jung, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung C&T said: “The Don Valley Power Project is defining the future of low carbon energy generation in the UK and we are delighted to be part of the project. Samsung C&T will work with 2Co Energy in the UK to create an international hub of knowledge and expertise in a vital new technology the rest of the world is looking to pioneer.”

Lewis Gillies, Chief Executive of 2Co Energy Limited said: “Samsung’s landmark investment is a major vote of confidence in the UK’s potential to lead the world in carbon capture and storage technology. The Don Valley Power is the largest and most cost effective CCS project in Europe and Samsung’s capability, strength and scale now make it Europe’s most deliverable CCS project as well. The regional infrastructure created by the project will help the UK lead a clean industrial revolution that keeps the lights on and boosts jobs, green growth and innovation.”

Julian Smith MP (Conservative, Skipton and Ripon) said: "Supporting a low carbon economy is vital to boosting UK growth and jobs in those regions that need them most. Samsung's landmark investment makes Yorkshire the natural choice for the first carbon capture and storage network in the UK and Europe."

Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group said: "With coal still dominating energy supply in many parts of the world, CCS is truly essential in the effort to curb global emissions. Large-scale projects like Don Valley are critical in demonstrating the full benefits and potential of CCS, cleaning up Europe's coal-fired power generation and unlocking a clean industrial revolution".

Stephen Brown, Director of Strategy at CO2Sense CIC said: “Today’s announcement reinforces Yorkshire and Humber as the best location in Europe to commercialise CCS. Three projects from the region have been submitted for funding through the EU's New Entrant Reserve 300 (NER 300) mechanism - more than any other region in Europe. The Don Valley Power Project will become an anchor for what could become the world’s first industrial CCS cluster. Samsung’s UK investment is a compelling signal to Government, the European Commission and industry.”

For more information please contact: Hugh Goulbourne Hugh.goulbourne@co2sense.co.uk / 0113 237 8468

Forum Post: What no sustainable farming...?

Robert Rose — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:16:00 GMT

It was a bit dissappointing to sign up & find not a lot of activity in the sustainable farming network - what does everyone else do that has a connection to sustainable farming? We won the Think Green Business of the Year last year in the Press Business Awards for our commitment to sustainable farming by building upon a farm commited to sustainability through supporting renewables & operating an innovative grazing system.

Over to you...

Blog Post: Ferrybridge 'example to industry' - Minister

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

13th March 2012

By James Reed - Deputy Editor, Yorkshire, BusinessDesk.com

ENERGY Secretary Edward Davey has urged firms to follow the lead of a Yorkshire power station as he launched a £20m competition to develop new carbon capture and storage technology.

The coal-fired Ferrybridge power station opened a carbon capture and storage plant last year and Mr Davey said the project was an example of the benefits developing the new technology could bring.

The new competition will be targeted at the creation of better and cheaper CCS components.

Mr Davey said: "Carbon capture and storage will play a vital role in ensuring we develop a low carbon energy mix. We are helping to create a new industry in the UK and are well placed to become a world leader.

“The UK’s first carbon capture pilot, opened at Ferrybridge last year, is an early example of what CCS means in terms of jobs and growth. More than 20 UK based companies provided parts and services to the project.

“By supporting research and development, this £20m competition is an important step towards making cost competitive CCS a reality by the 2020s.”

Forum Post: Some videos on Energy Research in Sheffield

Neil Lowrie — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:45:00 GMT

Some videos on Energy Research in Sheffield

Blog Post: Influential Yorkshire MP supports CCS with statement to Parliament

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:11:00 GMT

Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con): I want to pay tribute to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and in particular to the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), for the work that is being done on carbon capture and storage. There have been a number of very important positive announcements in recent weeks: the decision to include gas as well as coal; the establishment of the Office of CCS within the Department, which is giving focus to this area; and the holding of a number of industrial days, which culminated a couple of weeks ago in 200 or 300 CCS industry representatives debating in London with the Department. The head of the CCS Storage Association described the relationship between the industry and the Government as “tremendous”.

There was criticism about the decision to pull back from Longannet last year. It was said that that would slow things down, but it has proved to be a positive move, and there seems to have been a strategic rethink of what we are trying to do, how we are going to achieve it, how we are going to include European money, and how we are going to support clusters. On the eve of DECC announcing the new terms of its CCS competition, we have an industry that is enthused, a Government who are focused, and, most importantly, a positive dialogue and a sense of mutual support, which is vital for the success of such a tricky and unproven technology.

This change of philosophy is important for Yorkshire and the Humber, as it is the best placed region in the UK to deliver on CCS, with its heavy-industry heritage and its proximity to North sea storage. Much work has already been done to position the region to make the most of CCS. There are four or five main projects, including Don valley, Killingholme, Ferrybridge and Tata Steel, and nowhere else in the country has so many potential projects.

On pipelines, the National Grid has already undertaken initial consultation work, with very positive feedback from the public, and CO2Sense—we are grateful for the fact that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has supported it, and continues to do so post-Yorkshire Forward—has been bringing together people and expertise in the region. Yorkshire and the Humber has so many pieces of the required CCS jigsaw: the right industrial heritage, a good geography and location, projects that are ready, and a team of people who are collaborating and have a vision.

A commitment to the Yorkshire and the Humber cluster through the upcoming process would give a massive boost to the economy, with some 55,000 construction jobs in the construction phase alone, inward investment opportunities, export opportunities with countries such as China, and opportunities at home, too, created by additional revenues and extra skills as universities in the region, including York and Leeds, develop expertise and technologies to meet the business demand. There will be huge economic benefits, and there will be a great rebalancing of our economy, if we can get the commitment from the Department and from the European Union.

I wish to finish by encouraging Ministers to do the following: accelerate further the timelines for the competition; focus even more on the cluster benefits; encourage Europe to push forward on its side of the financial bargain; and avoid the Opposition’s legacy of picking a project here and there across the country, and instead focus on a region, Yorkshire and the Humber, to develop the critical mass and ensure that Britain is a world leader in CCS.

Blog Post: Minister drops funding hint over CO2 pipeline for region’s industry - Yorkshire Post (05 March 2012)

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:05:00 GMT

By Jack Blanchard Political Editor
Published on Monday 5 March 2012 08:20

The Government has offered a clear hint that it is considering putting hundreds of millions of pounds towards a sprawling CO2 pipeline network for Yorkshire that would help secure the region’s heavy industries for decades to come.

Energy Minister Charles Hendry told MPs that the coalition has “moved on” from earlier plans to simply offer financial backing to individual “clean coal” projects around the UK, and is now considering whether “large, oversized pipelines” for CO2 should be funded instead as part of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) network for the nation.

Yorkshire is widely seen as the best place in the country to develop the emerging technology of CCS, which involves capturing harmful carbon emissions before they are released by power stations and factories and then burying them deep underground.

Regional planners have spent years drawing up plans for a vast pipeline running from the Aire Valley to the banks of the River Humber and out into the North Sea, collecting CO2 emissions from all Yorkshire’s main industrial polluters along the way before storing them in disused oil and gas fields beneath the seabed.

Such a pipeline appears the only realistic way of maintaining Yorkshire’s heavy industries and coal-fired power stations as the UK slashes carbon emissions over the coming years. If successful, it would cut the UK’s entire carbon output by up to 10 per cent.

The scheme would cost around £2bn, however, and the region has faced an uphill battle in trying to convince Government that this is the best use of the limited resources it has set aside for CCS development. Whitehall had previously focused on developing individual “clean coal” power stations instead.

However, its first proposed project, a “clean coal” power station at Longannet in Scotland, collapsed last year as costs spiralled.

Now Mr Hendry has told MPs that a new CCS funding competition, in which projects will be able to bid for up to £1bn of Government support, will encourage polluting industries to collaborate through the use of shared pipelines – the precise vision Yorkshire has been working towards.

“Since pulling back from (Longannet), we have sought to put in place a new competition that is much more all-embracing,” Mr Hendry said. “It will give… greater scope for collaboration between different industrial partners. It will also provide the opportunity to find out whether we can use the funding to support infrastructure development.

“For example, would putting in place large, over-sized pipelines provide the opportunity for an industry to be created, rather than a few pilot projects?”

With its cluster of heavy industries and power stations, and proximity to potential storage wells beneath the North Sea, Yorkshire is considered one of the best places in Europe to develop a shared CCS pipeline.

It is the only place in the UK that already has a fully costed and detailed technical plan of how such an underground pipeline could be deployed. The National Grid is backing the plan, and launched a public consultation on possible routes last year.

Studies suggest thousands of construction jobs would be created, and tens of thousands more secured as large emitters such as Drax power station and Tata Steel are offered a potential way forward for their businesses as carbon reduction targets become ever tighter.

Other heavy-polluting industries are also likely to be attracted to the region if they are confident a CO2 pipeline will soon be in place to deal with their carbon emissions.

Mr Hendry said such a collaborative effort will be vital over the years to come. “Our ambition has moved on,” he said.

“It is not just about how to put a few projects in place, but about how to create an industry that is viable and competitive in the 2020s.”

CO2Sense, the Yorkshire-based not-for-profit consultancy which has been lobbying for a pipeline to be built across the region, said Mr Hendry’s comments were highly significant.

Director of strategy Dr Stephen Brown said: “Yorkshire is the obvious place to develop an infrastructure capable of supporting a new CCS industry.

“With its cluster of power stations and heavy industry, developing a shared oversized pipeline in the region to carry the captured CO2 to the suitable storage sites in the North Sea makes clear sense.

“Together with our industry partners, we have already carried out engineering studies which have identified suitable routes and which show that this is a hugely cost-effective way of developing CCS.

“Sharing the costs of transporting the CO2 could cut costs by hundreds of millions of pounds.”

Blog Post: Clean coal project would see 1,250 jobs at Drax - Article from today's Yorkshire Post (6 March 2012)

Hugh Goulbourne — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:51:00 GMT

By John Collingridge City Reporter
Published on Tuesday 6 March 2012 07:57

POWER station operator Drax has shed more light on its plans for a pioneering ‘clean’ coal power plant in Yorkshire, which would create 1,250 jobs during its construction.

The North Yorkshire power giant, which supplies around seven per cent of the UK’s electricity, said the 426 mega watt (MW) plant would create another 60 jobs once operating.

Named the White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project, it aims to trap about two million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, capturing 90 per cent of the plant’s emissions.

According to a document released by Drax, White Rose aims to power about 630,000 homes.

Drax will work with French engineering group Alstom and industrial gases firm BOC on the scheme, but has previously released few other details. National Grid will transport the trapped CO2 via a pipeline to underground caverns beneath the North Sea.

The consortium has created a new company, Capture Power Ltd, to develop, implement and operate the new scheme.

“The project is intended to prove CCS technology at commercial scale and demonstrate it as a competitive form of low carbon power generation and as an important technology in tackling climate change,” said the document. “It will also play an important role in establishing a CO2 transportation and storage network in the Yorkshire and Humber area.”

The state-of-the-art plant will be built on land north of Drax’s existing 3,960 MW power station, owned by the plant. Viewed from the north, the existing Drax plant will form the backdrop to the new power station, it said.

Drax, headed by chief executive Dorothy Thompson, is competing for European and Government funds to build the demonstration plant, one of three CSS projects in Yorkshire and the Humber. The Government has launched a £1bn competition to support a CCS demonstration scheme, after scrapping plans for a project at Longannet power station in Fife. Drax is also bidding for funds from the European Union’s NER 300 scheme, and would also be dependent on “market mechanisms to incentivise low-carbon technologies”.

No timescale has been put on when the first CO2 could be pumped underground. However, if successful, White Rose would be the first of its kind to use such technology on this scale.

“(It) is intended to pave the way for wider scale future deployment of CCS technology in the UK and elsewhere,” said the document.

The plant would be powered by coal, but also have scope to burn biomass – organic material generally derived from plants.

Construction of the plant would take about three years, according to the document, and it would result in a boost for Yorkshire firms during both the building and operation phase.

The consortium plans to apply for consent from the Infrastructure Planning Commission by early 2013. Before then, it will launch a public consultation to gauge views on the scheme. Drax is exploring a number of ways to reduce its carbon emissions and lengthen its lifespan, as increasingly tough rules on carbon emissions threaten the future of coal-fired power stations in the UK.

It recently scrapped two of three planned biomass power stations, blaming weak Government support for “dedicated” biomass burning. However, Drax still plans to convert its giant power station to be mainly fuelled by biomass.

Yorkshire-based non-for-profit consultancy CO2Sense has been lobbying for a carbon capture network to pipe emissions from polluting industries in Yorkshire and the Humber, to be pumped beneath the North Sea.

“We very strongly welcome and support the Drax CO2 capture project as it greatly adds to the strength of the initial CCS Yorkshire cluster,” said CCS director Stephen Brown.

The White Rose scheme plans to use oxyfuel combustion. This burns fuel in a high oxygen environment, meaning resulting gases contain a high concentration of CO2. This means CO2 can be captured without the need for chemical separation, before being piped for storage.

Drax declined to comment.

Going underground

CARBON capture and storage (CCS) aims to reduce fossil fuel emissions by burying greenhouse gases.

It involves trapping up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) at source, such as coal-fired power stations, steel plants and oil refineries, and compressing it. The compressed CO2 can be pumped through a series of pipes to a suitable well in geological formations. Often these are depleted gas caverns deep under the seabed.

The gas is pumped deep into the wells, where it filters into porous sandstone. The cost of compressing, transporting and storing CO2 has so far prevented development in the UK.

Document: PhD Project proposal form

Neil Lowrie — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:21:00 GMT

Proposal form for PhD projects in energy research with University of Sheffield

Forum Post: Call for PhD Projects in Energy Research

Neil Lowrie — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:19:00 GMT

E-Futures DTC is a £9M centre for energy research in the University of Sheffield. 33 PhD students will pursue their main PhD project starting Sept 2012. Our definition of "energy" is very broad, and current PhD projects are listed here.

We would like to work with companies on ideas that are of interest to them. A short form explaining how we work with industry sponsors is available here.

If of interest, please forward ideas as soon as possible to allow enough time for discussion.

Resource: Woodfuel - Resources

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:46:00 GMT