If EVs are in fact burning coal... better do it right!
Researchers at MIT claim that electricity can be generated from coal with twice the efficiency of current plants, using a combination of coal gasification and fuel cells:
http://news.mit.edu/2016/hybrid-system-could-cut-coal-plant-emissions-half-0404 http://news.mit.edu/sites/mit.edu.ne...?itok=o0l2FbzI Quote:
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Coal could supply our electricity for centuries to come without the negative side effects of traditionally burned fossil fuels. If this works out it would be a game changer. |
Hope it works out. Likely to be expensive...
While it would reduce a lot of the "tailpipe emission" problems, it would do nothing to prevent the supply side problems, like mountain top removal, damaging groundwater and those sorts of issues. |
Seems interesting and like the concept. If I were smarter I'd have more to say about it so for now I'm just intrigued in the idea of cleaner power from coal. I understand the collection of the CO2 but question what they plan to do with it once it's collected? Will gas companies buy it from the power companies to compress into smaller cylinders for sale to the public? Is there a commercial use for CO2 that I'm not aware of that could make the power company money by selling this byproduct?
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CO2 can be used in a variety of chemical processes, to boost plant growth in greenhouses, or it could be dumped in abandoned gas fields.
We have huge gas fields in Groningen which are slowly depleting; the reduced pressure is causing earthquakes and landfalls. Pumping excess CO2 into those could stop all that and possibly help extract the last bits of methane, as well as reduce emissions. Some kinds of fuel and plastics can be made from CO2 if it gets cheap enough. |
We can't burn fossil fuels, if we want to survive. Do this with biochar, and we're good.
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CO2 can also be injected into declining oil wells to drive the oil off the rock much more effectively than injecting water.
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Restoring our grasslands with their flora and fauna would be HUGE carbon sink - and with ALL of the world's grasslands restored, that could lower the carbon dioxide to ~350ppm in about a decade. That would be great!
Biochar is another way to get the carbon into the soil - where it becomes a huge benefit; rather than a huge problem. |
You said biochar twice. You must like biochar. :thumbup:
It's worth mentioning that Cool Planet jump into the middle of the biochar production (re)cycle and use a bio-reactor to produce 100-octane gas-o-line. I agree with solarguy. Where does the embedded uranium go? |
I like the biochar for what it is, but in the current situation the world is burning coal in quite large amounts and the MIT project could change that.
Dirty coal to clean coal + using less of it for the same power + capturing carbon dioxide in addition to biochar would cover most of our electricity needs. |
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