Power firms to slash CO2 from coal plants

An experimental project by two of the nation's biggest electric power firms could eventually eliminate carbon emissions from new coal-fired thermal power plants.

The technology, which would remove carbon dioxide from combustible gases before they are burned to generate electricity, could revolutionize the way electricity is generated globally.

The firms are also working on ways to slash emissions from existing coal-fired plants, which produce about 30 percent of the country's electricity, but half of the carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power industry.

Coal is widely considered the dirtiest fuel source because of the large volume of carbon dioxide it releases when burned.

But Masayoshi Kitamura, president of electricity wholesaler Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power), on Wednesday announced a joint project with Chugoku Electric Power Co. to develop a thermal power plant that he said could cut carbon dioxide emissions altogether.

"Technology that utilizes coal in a thoroughly clean and highly efficient manner will become indispensable," Kitamura said.

About 80 percent of the electricity generated by J-Power comes from coal-fired thermal plants.

The two companies will start construction of an integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant from March 2013 at Chugoku Electric Power's Osaki power plant in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Hydrogen and other combustible gases will be produced from coal and oxygen oxidized in a reactor with temperatures of up to 1,600 degrees. The combustible gases will act as fuel for electric power generation with an output of 170,000 kilowatts.

Plans call for the start of experimental operations from March 2017. The companies will first test the feasibility of a plan to burn less coal for the same output, thereby boosting efficiency by between 10 and 20 percent.

They will then start an experimental plant from fiscal 2021 to remove carbon dioxide from the combustible gases before they are burned.

Hirofumi Obata, managing director of Chugoku Electric Power, said, "We want to commercialize the technology in time for the rebuilding of thermal power plants scheduled for after 2020."

Joban Joint Power Co. in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, is also proceeding with an experiment to increase the efficiency of an IGCC power plant on its premises by burning less coal--and, therefore, producing less carbon dioxide--per unit of electricity it generates.

Electric power companies and the central government have invested 98 billion yen in the plant, which has an output of 250,000 kilowatts.

J-Power, meanwhile, will use its Matsuura plant in Nagasaki Prefecture to test a plan to replace 2 percent of the coal it burns with wood thinnings.

The company estimates that if it does the same at all of its thermal power plants, it would burn 400,000 tons less coal each year.

Thermal plants account for about 40 percent of the world's electricity generation. They generate 80 percent of all electricity in China, 70 percent in India and 50 percent in the United States and Germany.

However, the amount of carbon dioxide generated by burning coal is 1.3 times that produced by burning petroleum and 1.6 times that from burning liquefied natural gas.(IHT/Asahi: July 31,2009)