Vol. 5, No. 7
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February 1, 2008
Nevada's Online State News Journal-- Serving Informed Nevadans Since 2003
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COPYWRITING
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Climate Change At Heart
Of Coal Gasification
Except No One Knows What
To Do With The Pollutant
by Johnny Gunn
To quote Nevada's senior U.S. Senator Harry Reid, "there is no such thing as clean coal." During a conference on renewable energy for Nevada, Reid continued, "there may be cleaner burning coal, but there is no such thing as clean coal." The pollutants that come from the burning of coal are among those most associated with global warming and several are also carcinogenic, that is, are believed to cause some types of cancer. In a world sense, this creates a major economic problem in that large amounts of coal are available all over the world. Coal is available at what most would consider a reasonable cost compared to oil or natural gas.
Among the pollutants that come from the burning of coal are carbon dioxide, one of the foremost contributors to the greenhouse gas effect that is believed to be a primary cause of climate change. Another is mercury, a heavy metal that has been found to cause brain damage in large doses, and other metals. Sulfur derivatives and nitrogen oxides are also spewed into the atmosphere from burning coal. Many of these can be contained, but not all and particularly not carbon dioxide. Many believe that what is termed the gasification of coal will allow for the continued use of the product. Those that have worked and studied the concept all agree that gasification would be a good way to go with one exception. What to do with the large amounts of carbon dioxide residue.
Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPCo) in northern Nevada attempted to create a coal gasification project recently, spent almost $50 million in the failed attempt, and believes the rate payers in the state should foot the bill. The state's public utilities commission has the rate request under study at this time. Nevada's PSC is also investigating the ownership of SPPCo's parent company, Sierra Pacific Resources (SPR). A company called Horizon Asset Management of New York and other locations is believed to own as much as 27 percent of SPR. The legality of that is under study at this time.
Horizon Assets Management may also own considerable stock in LS Power, a company that is also planning a 1500 mega watt coal fired power plant in Ely, to sit virtually next door to that of SPPCo's 1500 mega watt plant. At the same time it is alleged that Horizon Asset Management has a large interest in a Chinese company that builds equipment needed for the operation of coal fired power plants. At this time there has been no public reaction from SPR, SPPCo, or Horizon Asset Management. Other than the failed attempt at a gasification plant, Sierra Pacific Resources has not indicated that further work in the field is expected.
Coal, to put it bluntly is the remains of carbon based life from millions of years ago. When the coal is broken down into its complex chemical parts, what you have is a large amount of carbon, hydrogen, sulfur oxides, and nitrous oxides, among other items including mercury. The primary purpose of breaking coal into its many chemical pieces is to free the hydrogen, which can then be burned to create electrical energy or drive engines with no resulting pollution. Hydrogen mixed with oxygen creates a big bang and the residue is water.
Gasification plants are operating today, but the problem of what to do with the left overs, the carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and mercury has not been answered. Right now, all that is being done is storing the left over gasses. There are uses for carbon dioxide, the largest portion left over from the gasification process, but in almost every case, the use also releases the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so there is no gain as far as pollution is concerned.
Hydrogen, when mixed with oxygen and ignited, creates water. That is the primary positive from the gasification of coal. The negative side of course is, all those pollutants from the original lump of million year old carbon are still there. There have been several plans offered including pumping the resultant carbon dioxide underground hoping it doesn't return to the surface, storing the product in barrels, and other such ways of what DOE calls sequestering the product. The plans all have an aroma of Yucca Mountain plastered all over them. If one is looking for that opportunity of a lifetime, figure out what to do with the carbon dioxide and you'll be rich beyond all dreams.
During and immediately after the gasification process, great amounts of energy are available to drive turbines and produce electricity. It has proved to be a very efficient and economic process in many operations. For the most part, the only problem is exactly what the problem is when coal is simply burned; carbon dioxide, mercury, and other pollutants are still there. They must be controlled, and that isn't happening right now. A report out of Abu Dhabi, an Emirate in the Middle East indicates they will create the world's largest hydrogen power plant and have it on line within the next five years.
The cost is estimated at $15 billion and will make the city a "sustainable city" with about 50,000 residents. By gasification, the hydrogen will power and heat all the buildings and the pollutants will be "sequestered," that is, either pumped back underground or containerized. For many in the coal industry, sequestering is an answer, for many outside the industry, sequestering is a rather poor interim answer.
Within DOE is the Office of Fossil Energy, which is overseeing many of the programs working to create a means of using coal in a clean emitting situation. Coal reserves in this country are immense, some say there are known reserves that could provide enough for the next 200 years. What to do with the known pollutants is the only draw back that has not been answered. Hydrogen to drive turbines in energy plants, to run reciprocating engines in vehicles, to drive machinery is a concept that is not wrong by any stretch.
In fact, the DOE says, "Future concepts that incorporate a fuel cell or a fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid could achieve efficiencies nearly twice today's typical coal combustion plants. If any of the remaining waste heat can be channeled into process steam or heat, perhaps for nearby factories or district heating plants, the overall fuel use efficiency of future gasification plants could reach 70 to 80 percent." In the meantime, the problem of what to do with the pollutants left over from the gasification process are not answered.
While processes of developing a clean way of using coal are ongoing, renewable resources are coming on line at a rapid rate. Geothermal plants and solar energy systems are being developed, and carbon dioxide gas is building up in the earth's atmosphere. There are no pollutants emanating from solar and geothermal energy systems and many scientists in the field of energy production believe that while continuing the study of gasification is important, energy production companies should be putting their strongest efforts into utilizing natural and renewable products to develop their energy.
It was noted following the Enron energy crisis of 2000 and 2001 that Sierra Pacific Resources had lost whatever financial standing it might have had because of becoming mired in the scandal. When a solar industry complex was looking for investment money, SPR's financial standing was so poor that Solargenix was being denied financing. Solargenix was planning to sell solar power to Nevada Power, part of SPR. Solargenix made arrangements with Acciones of Spain and the solar plant is on line. There are continuing questions about SPR's financial standing and this may be why Horizon Asset Management is part of the current picture. Horizon Asset Management has been alleged to have bought into companies that are financially in trouble. A part of a hedge fund that may be behind the SPR investment.
Sierra Pacific Resources announced recently that they will review the company's year end 2007 financial results, regulatory issues, and other matters during a conference call and webcast on Monday, February 11. The program will get underway at 7:00 a.m. and can be seen live at http://www.sierrapacificresources.com.
In a report to Congress prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the concept of building pipelines from energy producing sites to areas where carbon dioxide could be "sequestered" is under study by DOE. Congress is considering these policies as you read this. Senate bill 2144 and Senate bill 2191 would require the Secretary of Energy to study the feasibility of constructing and operating such a network of pipelines. Senate bill 2323 would require carbon sequestration projects to evaluate the most cost efficient ways to integrate carbon dioxide sequestration, capture, and transportation. Public Law 110-140, signed by President Bush on December 19, 2007, requires the Secretary of the Interior to recommend legislation to clarify the issuance of carbon dioxide pipeline rights of way on public land.
The coal industry has some very highly paid, efficient manpower working the corridors in Washington, D.C. As the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository slowly fades into oblivion, don't be surprised if DOE comes up with a plan to sequester all that carbon dioxide underground 90 miles north of Las Vegas.
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