Tag Archives: emissions
BP Backs Texas Carbon Capture as Skyonic Gets $128 Million Funds
By Sally Bakewell – Jun 25, 2013 2:00 PM GMT BP Plc (BP/) part-funded an emissions project at a Texas cement plant, betting that plans to turn the gases into chemicals for sale will succeed where traditional carbon-capture proposals have failed. BP, Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE) and other investors in developer Skyonic Corp. pledged a total of $128 million, Skyonic Chief Executive Officer Joe Jones said in Austin, where the company is based. It plans to trap 83,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from Capitol Aggregates Inc.’s plant in San Antonio . Skyonic expects to profit from global efforts to curb industrial emissions by trapping and “mineralizing” CO2 into byproducts such as hydrochloric acid and baking soda. While countries including the U.S. and Britain have sought to capture carbon from power plants for burial underground, such projects are yet to operate on a commercial scale. “It signals to the whole world that we have another alternative for carbon capture besides the pipeline-it-and-pump-it-in-the-ground solutions that have failed to take off,” Jones said in a telephone interview. BP is supporting the venture even after scrapping a carbon-capture project in Scotland. It has developed a “portfolio of investments that could yield valuable innovations in carbon capture and storage, carbon conversion and solutions for carbon markets,” the London-based company said on its website. The Skyonic funding includes $80 million of loans from Apollo Investment Corp. (AINV) and Maxus Capital Group LLC, according to Jones. It also won financing from new investors Bluecap Partners, Toyo-Thai Corp. PCL and Energy Technology Ventures. PVS Chemicals Inc., the Detroit-based chemicals maker that will buy the hydrochloric acid, contributed funds too, he said. Skyonic plans to start production next year. The facility will capture CO2, acid gases and metals from the flue gas and turn them into products for sale that will generate profit at the plant within three years, according to the company. To contact the reporter on this story: Sally Bakewell in London at sbakewell1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net Continue reading
Switchgrass Will Power Navy Jet Fighters With 95% Less Greenhouse Emissions
June 6, 2013 Tina Casey The more you poke at the Navy biofuel initiatives, the more you just seem to rile them up. Earlier this spring, for example, the Navy went ahead and announced a new round of $18 million in matching funds for four new biofuel pilot projects shortly after certain members of Congress tried to put a damper on its biofuel program. In the latest maneuver, today the National Renewable Energy Laboratory piled on with a press release that details all of the resources it’s going to contribute to one of the projects, a switchgrass-based jet biofuel process that is expected to involve 95 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional jet fuel production. Switchgrass courtesy of USDA. NREL Goes To Bat for Navy Biofuel When the Navy announced its new biofuel refinery projects in April, the one that caught our eye involved a company we’ve been following, Cobalt Technologies . Cobalt’s biofuel process uses proprietary microorganisms and natural fermentation to break down the sugar in switchgrass and other woody biomass, converting it directly into butanol which is a precursor to standard JP5 jet fuel. The switchgrass-to-butanol phase of the project already underwent a successful test run at NREL last year. Under the partnership, NREL will use its pretreatment reactor and enzymatic digester reactors to convert switchgrass into fermentable sugars. Cobalt’s microorganisms will be deployed in the lab’s 9,000-liter fermenters to produce butanol, and the Navy will contribute its own catalyst systems to convert the butanol into jet fuel (yes, the Navy is heavily invested in alternative fuel research ). Another partner in the project, Missouri-based Show Me Energy Cooperative , will supply the switchgrass. The co-op’s headquarters will also serve as a location for a scaled-up biorefinery, assuming the pilot project is successful. In Your Face, Navy Biofuel Haters Aside from providing a rundown of all the resources at its disposal to assist Cobalt, the NREL press release goes out of its way to make it clear that if the project is successful in producing cost-competitive jet biofuel, the way has already been prepared to get the process out of the demo phase and into the market: “The results of testing will help determine whether the process is ready for commercial scale. If so, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense are poised to help private firms build the huge biorefineries that would be needed.” NREL further emphasizes that the success of the pilot project will lead to the growth of a domestic jet fuel production sector that does not depend on imported petroleum feedstock, serving national security interests as well as creating new private sector jobs in the energy field. That’s on top of the aforementioned 95 percent advantage in greenhouse gas management over petroleum-based jet fuel production. Read more at http://cleantechnica…oxFx4TbpHXOO.99 Continue reading
EU Carbon Price Back-Loading Earns Second Chance?
Posted on 21 June 2013 by Vicky Ellis Beleaguered plans to postpone or “backload” carbon allowances under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme have been given a boost after MEPs on the EU’s environment committee voted for them a second time. The EU ETS is meant to push businesses towards cutting their emissions by putting a cost on the carbon they emit but allowances have plunged in price from €30 to below €5 a tonne. The EU parliament narrowly rejected the back-loading proposals in April meant to boost this low price but this week’s vote gives back-loading another chance. The European Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee’s proposals would delay the auction of 900 million allowances for carbon emissions from 2013-2015 until 2019-2020. Matthias Groote of the ENVI committee who is steering the legislation through the EU Parliament said: “We now have broader support for a solution that will allow the ETS to fulfil its purpose and support innovation to tackle climate change. I believe the full Parliament will endorse our proposals and let us start negotiations with EU ministers as soon as possible.” Dirk Forrister, President & chief executive of IETA which represents the business community’s views on the carbon markets said the “compromise text” amongst the largest political groups is “an important first-step” ahead of the vote by all MEPs in a couple of weeks. Markus Rauramo, CFO at Finnish energy firm Fortum said he hoped the Parliament and the Council can finalise the decision “rapidly”, adding: “Almost all market-based energy investments are currently on hold in Europe because of the uncertainty regarding the future climate and energy policy frameworks.” The new text is to be put to a plenary vote on July 3 in Strasbourg. Continue reading
