Coal Plant to Plant Carbon Dioxide in Ground
Sep 22, 2009 – Matthew L. Wald reports in “Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention” in The New York Times today that American Electric Power will be injecting CO2 into the ground from its huge Mountaineer power plant in New Haven, West Virginia. It will thus become the world’s first coal-fired power plant to capture and bury some of the CO2 that it produces. The US still uses coal for about 50% of its electricity needs.
What unintended consequences will result from this new technology? Some say 15% of the energy will go into this process while others say 30% of the energy will be used. Will the carbon dioxide stay where it is put & for how long? The CO2 will be pumped into sandstone 7,800 feet down & then into a layer of dolomite 400 feet below that. It will displace salty water that is there now. Where will that go? Not into the drinking water, one hopes.
The test will capture 1.5% of the plant’s emissions for the next 2 to 5 years, but AEP says it could expand it to capture up to 90% of the plant’s emissions. What do you think? What do you think could go wrong?