MARKETS

CO2 capture gives life to coal power

IN AN Australian first carbon dioxide has been captured from Victoria's Loy Yang coal power stati...

Vivienne Ryan

Government research body CSIRO said the milestone followed the Garnaut Report’s recognition that Australia had a role to play in developing low emission coal technologies, such as PCC.

“Coal is the primary fuel for over 80 percent of Australia’s current power supply, it is what turns the lights on in most homes, so we need to find a way to make it a cleaner energy source,” CSIRO energy technology chief David Brockway said.

“PCC uses a liquid to capture CO2 from power station flue gases and can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 percent.”

The 10.5m high pilot plant is designed to capture up to 1000 tonnes of CO2 a year from Loy Yang’s exhaust-gas flues.

CSIRO is undertaking more PCC research at Munmorah near New South Wales and Beijing, China and is also negotiating another pilot plant at a Queensland site.

“Climate change is a key issue for Australia and we’re delighted to be part of finding a solution to this global challenge,” Loy Yang power chief executive Ian Nethercote said.

The pilot plant at the Loy Yang power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is a collaboration between Loy Yang, International Power Hazelwood, CO2CRC and government researchers from CSIRO.

TOPICS:

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining Monthly Intelligence team.

editions

ESG Mining Company Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Mining Company Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Exploration Report 2024 (feat. Opaxe data)

A comprehensive review of exploration trends and technologies, highlighting the best intercepts and discoveries and the latest initial resource estimates.

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Future Fleets Report 2024

The report paints a picture of the equipment landscape and includes detailed profiles of mines that are employing these fleets

editions

Mining Magazine Intelligence Digitalisation Report 2023

An in-depth review of operations that use digitalisation technology to drive improvements across all areas of mining production