Determinants of the costs of carbon capture and sequestration for expanding electricity generation capacity

Cheap and clean energy demand is continuously increasing due to economic growth and industrialization. The energy sectors of several countries still employ fossil fuels for power production and there is a concern of associated emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). On the other hand, environmental regulations are becoming more stringent, and resultant emissions need to be mitigated. Therefore, optimal energy policies considering economic resources and environmentally friendly pathways for electricity generation are essential. The objective of this paper is to develop a comprehensive model to optimize the power sector. For this purpose, a multi-period mixed integer programming (MPMIP) model was developed in a General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) to minimize the cost of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Various CO2 mitigation strategies such as fuel balancing and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) were employed. The model was tested on a case study from Pakistan for a period of 13 years from 2018 to 2030. All types of power plants were considered that are available and to be installed from 2018 to 2030. Moreover, capacity expansion was also considered where needed. Fuel balancing was found to be the most suitable and promising option for CO2 mitigation as up to 40% CO2 mitigation can be achieved by the year 2030 starting from 4% in 2018 for all scenarios without increase in the cost of electricity (COE). CO2 mitigation higher than 40% by the year 2030 can also be realized but the number of new proposed power plants was much higher beyond this target, which resulted in increased COE. Implementation of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) on new power plants also reduced the CO2 emissions considerably with an increase in COE of up to 15%.

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Keeping The Lights On With Coal Energy: A Financial Approach

Journal of International Energy Policy (JIEP) ◽

10.19030/jiep.v5i1.9834 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Flory Anette Dieck-Assad

Keyword(s):

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

Electricity Generation ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Power Plants ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Protection Agency ◽

Carbon Capture And Sequestration ◽

Mercury Emissions ◽

Energy Technologies ◽

Operative Costs

Environmental, political, and economic events seem to conspire simultaneously towards the objective to erase coal-fired power plants. The most important events are: the increase of environmental regulations, the surge of natural gas as a cleaner fuel, the operative costs, the aging and the efficiency issue of the coal-fired power plants. However, the decision of the U.S.A. Supreme Court, the 29th of June 2015, suspended the regulation proposals presented by the U.S.A. Environmental Protection Agency concerning the mercury emissions of coal-fired power plants. This decision caused debate and controversy. The main objective of the sustainable approach for electricity generation is to find the blending of fuels that decrease contamination. However, the contradiction of different events in the world poses the challenge to evaluate if the XXI Century will see the end of the coal era. Could the technological breakthroughs like the Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and the development of other Clean Energy Technologies on Coal (CCT) stop this trend or, will the financial and environmental profitability of coal help it to remain in the energy mix?

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