Get Carbon Technology Right

GreatPoint Energy’s Hydromethanation process
produces Methane and Carbon Dioxide from Coal

Showcasing the Benefits of Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs)

These research centres are generally effective, but it is a rare system that cannot be made better.

There is an issue with at least one of the Cooperative Research Centres that can be substantially improved.

The area for improvement is the development of efficient clean-coal technology. An announcement was made in December last year on the direction of research for this topic. It could only seriously have been made by an advertising agency that imagined it could sell a technology to decrease the efficiency of coal-based power generation.

The entire world is moving to increase, not decrease, the efficiency of power generation and energy use.

In 2008 the Co-operative Research Centre for Coal in Sustainable Development recognised the rather obvious and sensible research strategy:

“In general the advantages of [integrated combined cycle gasification] IGCC are:

• It can achieve up to 50% thermal efficiency. This is a higher efficiency compared to conventional coal power plants meaning there is less coal consumed to produce the same amount of energy, resulting in lower rates of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
• Carbon capture is easier and costs less than capture from a pulverised coal plant...”

The benefits of this sensible research strategy increased substantially in May this year, with both Siemens and GE releasing new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations that can achieve world-record thermal efficiency in excess of 60%. A utility in Florida has already purchased 6 of the new Siemens CCGT power stations.

Siemens SGT5-8000 Gas Turbine
pushes world record in efficiency to over 60 percent

However, on 20 December 2010 the media reported:

“According to Peter Cook, chief executive of the Co-operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies in Canberra, the research effort [IN AUSTRALIA] is swinging back in favour of capturing carbon emissions after the coal has been burned rather than trying to radically alter the coal itself before combustion. 'We are seeing that more conventional ways of making electricity are being looked at again [IN AUSTRALIA] for post-combustion capture,' Dr Cook said.”

Though this was a very strange idea last December, it is even stranger now with the Opposition spokesperson for climate change Greg Hunt claiming the carbon tax means a 10% hike in electricity bills in the first year alone.

Having the Co-operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies researching technology to decrease the efficiency of power generation will certainly increase electricity prices.

This is a summary of power generation options for production of 1000 MWh of electricity with a carbon tax of about $24 per tonne of CO2 emissions:

• NEW TECHNOLOGY: Substitute Natural Gas (120 tonnes of methane, CH4) contains 90 tonnes of Carbon which is converted into 330 tonnes CO2 at 60% thermal efficiency. Carbon tax: About $8 per MWh which is 0.8 of one cent per kWh.
• OLD TECHNOLOGY: Coal with 270 tonnes Carbon converted into 990 tonnes CO2 at 40% thermal efficiency. Carbon tax: about $24 per MWh which is 2.4 cents per kWh.

• 

  XEBEC's methane separation plant

  Substitute Natural Gas-from-coal using hydromethanation technology requires Coal with 180 tonnes Carbon which is converted into 120 tonnes of methane (CH4) containing 90 tonnes of the Carbon and 330 tonnes CO2 containing the other 90 tonnes of the Carbon.
• The separation of the methane / CO2 mixture created by hydromethanation can be done with simple, inexpensive and commercially available technology. There is no research required.

Notice that with the new technology, only two-thirds of the coal is required to produce the same amount of electricity that the old technology can produce. This will contribute to a reduction in the cost of electricity.

• In 2011, Australian thermal coal averaged about $AUD120 per metric tonne. The new technology saves at least 90 kg of coal for each MWh of electricity. This is a saving of about $10 per MWh which is 1 cent per kWh.

CO2 emissions are slashed by two-thirds. This will dramatically reduce any price rise from the carbon tax.

• Instead of paying carbon tax of about $24 per MWh which is 2.4 cents per kWh, the carbon tax will be only about $8 per MWh which is 0.8 of one cent per kWh.

The end result - the cost of electricity remains unchanged.

Power station owners can generate electricity that is both cleaner and cheaper, and have no additional cost due to the carbon tax to pass on to electricity consumers.

It is understandable that the coal industry might not want to see this technology installed. After all, the immediate effect is that orders for coal drop by one-third. However, it is not in the long-term interest of the coal industry to conduct research into inefficient power generation technology that is doomed to fail in the marketplace.

Lucky country tossing away its advantage

A post from The Telegraph blog of Piers Akerman - original at this link

Piers Akerman The Daily Telegraph August 05 2011 (12:00am)

ANY comparison with other Western nations demonstrates that Australia is the luckiest of countries - yet the Gillard Labor-Green-independent government seems hell-bent on destroying this legacy.

The continuing crash in retail sales is but one indicator of the crisis in confidence affecting our economy. But the worst retail figures to be recorded since 1962 were not due to the rise in internet shopping. They were due more to the uncertainty generated by this government's ideologically-based carbon tax and the effect it is already having on the cost of living through soaring power prices and the threat of job losses.

Australians are being prudent. In the face of infantile economic policies, they want to save for the crunch they know is coming. For some that crunch has already arrived.

NSW Treasury has looked into the federal carbon dioxide tax proposal and estimated it would cost the state 31,000 jobs, over 26,000 of which would be in regional areas.

This should be obvious to all. Regional Australia is home to most our energy intensive industries - the mines, factories and power generators. But apparently it is not obvious to wealthy inner-urban greens or the remnants of Labor's rusted-on support base who are not concerned about price or job losses.

The NSW Treasury study shows electricity prices under government's plan will increase by 50 per cent more than Julia Gillard's promised 10 per cent - an extra $500 for the average household.

Federal Treasury figures show that people in regional NSW already pay 25 per cent more for their electricity than those in Sydney. But far from fighting for their constituents against further price increases, the two NSW regional independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott have embraced the punitive tax.

Gillard's claim that the job losses would in some way be neutralised by new jobs in the alternate energy industry is sheer nonsense. So-called green jobs, where they have been created abroad, have been reliant on massive government subsidies.

It has been repeatedly demonstrated that the Gillard government's carbon dioxide tax plan has nothing to do with the environment. Even if it were proven carbon dioxide - and that created by human activity - had some effect on the atmosphere and global temperatures, any lowering of the level of carbon dioxide emissions by Australians would have no effect on the planet given the negligible contribution Australians make to global emissions.

Paying more for petrol, more for electricity for lighting, heating and cooling, more for every item manufactured in Australia and more for every delivery, will not save the Great Barrier Reef or have any effect on sea levels or rainfall.

The only effect of this tax will be to sabotage the national economy, provide employment to a raft of bureaucrats and give a handful of politicians bragging rights at international gatherings of like-minded doomsayers.

The Gillard government's response to logical criticism of its economy-destroying tax plan has been woeful. Unable to address the challenges to the so-called science upon which its tax is based, it has stepped up a campaign of political diversions.

Yesterday the Prime Minister made a speech on aged care policy and staged the opening of a handful of connections to the NBN, Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese was talking about airport security and there was a flurry of publicity about high-speed trains.

This is not government - this is toxic spin from the Hawker Britton strategy book.

Australia is lucky to have the rapacious Chinese as customers even if Gillard is able to overlook the fact that our biggest export is the very coal her government doesn't want Australians to be able to use at home.

Even so, the incompetent and deceitful Gillard government is doing its best to hobble the miners responsible for the bulk of our export wealth through its strident support for extremist environmental policies.

With the US on its uppers and Europe fighting a rear-guard action to keep its currency from being dragged under by debt-defaulting nations, Australia should be soaring. That the nation is undergoing a crisis in confidence not seen in 50 years must be blamed on the Gillard government and its insane desire to strip the nation of its greatest natural advantage - cheap energy.

We must stop the insanity of the carbon dioxide tax and remove the threat of preventing Australians from creating their own prosperity from the opportunities that exist naturally on this continent.

GE's Solution for Carbon Tax, Electricity Prices AND CO2 emissions

Option 1: Generate electricity efficiently, cheaply, and with low CO2 emissions

GE’s Super-Efficient Jenbacher Gas Engines Bring Energy Independence and Economic Opportunities to French Greenhouses

MILAN, ITALY—June 8, 2011—Since the beginning of the year, two of GE’s (NYSE: GE) flexible, high-output and efficient Jenbacher J624 two-stage turbocharged gas engines have enabled French grower Serres Vinet to generate all of the hot water and electricity required for its extensive tomato and lettuce greenhouse operations in Machecoul, in the Loire-Atlantique region. These are the first two-stage turbocharged gas engines in France, and they are the heart of two cogeneration plants powering Serres Vinet’s existing greenhouse operations plus a recent 17-hectare (42-acre) expansion. GE presented the innovative installation this week at the POWER-GEN Europe show in Milan.
…
No other gas engine manufacturer currently offers such a super-efficient two-stage turbocharged unit. Each Jenbacher J624 engine offers about 4.4 MW of electrical output and 4,014-kilowatts (kW) of thermal output at 44.4 percent electrical efficiency and 47 percent thermal efficiency. The units at Serres Vinet operate on natural gas and are key to the ability to configure Serres Vinet’s cogeneration plants to achieve an overall energy efficiency of more than 90 percent, with NOx emissions continuously below 350mg/Nm³. GE also has provided the control systems.

Option 2: Buy electricity that is expensive, creates high CO2 emissions, and attracts high carbon tax

(Source: Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal)
Table 1.3 Indicative annual bill for business customers in each standard supply area ($ nominal)

	2010/11 (current)	2011/12	Change
EnergyAustralia	2,006	2,365	359
Integral Energy	1,982	2,289	307
Country Energy	2,917	3,445	528

Note:
Bills exclude GST but include climate change levy. Bills calculated using 10,000 kWh per annum and EnergyAustralia’s General Supply All-time tariff, Integral Energy’s General Supply tariff and Country Energy’s Urban Business tariff (5740). Inflation is 3.3%.

(Electricity at a price of $2,289 for 10,000 kWh is equivalent to $63.60 per GJ of electrical energy.)

Option 3: Buy gas to generate electricity that is cheap, creates low CO2 emissions, and attracts low carbon tax

(Source: Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal)
Table 1 Indicative annual bill for AGL regulated retail customers ($ incl GST)

Type of Customer	2010/11	2011/12	$ Increase
Typical business - 184 GJ per year	3,289	3,350	61

(Gas at the price of $3,350 for 184 GJ is equal to $18.20 per GJ of thermal energy.)

Using gas that costs $18.20 per GJ to generate electricity in one of GE’s Super-Efficient Jenbacher Gas Engines - at 44.4 electrical efficiency - produces electricity for $41.40 per GJ.

This electricity is 1/3 cheaper than paying $2,289 for 10,000 kWh - electricity for $63.60 per GJ.

This electricity creates 60 percent less carbon dioxide emissions.

• (400 kg per MWh instead of 1,000 kg per MWh for coal-fired electricity generation.)

This electricity attracts 60 percent less carbon tax.

It's easy to save electricity and reduce carbon tax

The Hon Barry O’Farrell MP
Premier of NSW
MEDIA RELEASE

“Small business will have little choice but to pass on these massive hikes in electricity prices to their customers - dealing a double whammy to families and seniors across NSW,” Mr O’Farrell said.



Whether you work for a local, state or federal government agency, there are simple ways that you can save power and cut down on carbon pollution at work.

Everything we do to reduce power will make a difference. For a few tips to get you read more ...

Explore the business section and power saving tips for business to find simple actions you can do in your workplace to reduce electricity use and find out about business programs to make your organisation more sustainable.

Ted Baillieu - Many Quick and Simple Ways to Save Energy

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu was on the attack, claiming his government's analysis shows gas and electricity bills under the planned carbon tax will cost the state's public hospitals an extra $13.6 million for the 2012/13 financial year.

Visit ResourceSmart -

There are many quick and simple ways to start saving energy now

Visit ResourceSmart online for ideas on how to save energy IN VICTORIA

as well as other ways to shrink your impact on the environment.

Energy

... energy use is a major contributor to Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions. But by making a few simple changes to your habits, ... to your electricity provider, you can make immediate and dramatic cuts to your ... emissions.

• Electricity and gas bills

  If your bills are higher than you expect, look at your energy use ...

• Energy and Water Taskforce

  Free ... assessments and retrofits are available ...

• Energy saver incentive

  To help combat climate change and encourage Victorians to undertake energy saving actions, the Victorian Government has launched the Energy Saver Incentive.

• Find a trained ...sustainability assessor

  Get ... assessed by a qualified ... sustainability assessor who can provide advice on how to reduce your ... impact on the environment.

• ResourceSmart Retail Program
  

  When it comes to buying energy and water efficient products ..., for the right advice at the right place visit one of the participating ResourceSmart retailers.

Australia's largest solar thermal cooling system now running at Echuca Hospital in regional Victoria read more...

Cell company fuelling feed-in tariff debate

By Victoria Bruce
As Australia's carbon debate heats up, one company says it has a solution to offset growing energy demands.

Ceramic Fuel Cells group general manager Andrew Neilson says a box the size of a bar fridge could save up to 75 per cent of household power bills and significantly reduce carbon emissions.

The Melbourne company's BlueGen fuel cell unit converts natural gas and renewable fuels into power and heat.

Ceramic Fuel Cells supplies to governments and energy companies in Australia and overseas, including Germany, France, Britain, Japan and the United States.

In Germany, one of the company's biggest customers, utility firms supply the BlueGen unit free of charge to households, which then pay for the natural gas they use.

In Australia, solar energy technology can be connected to energy grids and owners paid a feed-in tariff. This isn't allowed for fuel cell technologies.

Mr Neilson says this restriction makes it difficult to crack the residential market in Australia.

"It's something we're lobbying the state governments about at the moment. So far, we've seen lots of nodding heads, but no action."

Mr Neilson says a carbon tax will encourage the switch to gas as grid electricity becomes more expensive. "It will become more economically attractive to make the switch away from grid power towards other sources.

And it does this with the highest electrical efficiency of any generating technology in the world."

Ceramic Fuel Cells has called for reviews of feed-in tariffs in NSW and Victoria to extend to low-emission technologies such as fuel cells.

Meanwhile, Mr Neilson said the company was focussing on exports.

The CSIRO says a two-kilowatt BlueGen unit, currently retailing at $45,000, can save up to 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when replacing power derived from brown coal.

Ceramic Fuel Cells recently won a contract to supply 25 BlueGen units to Ausgrid for installation in Australia's largest grid project, based in Newcastle.

Other domestic customers included the Victorian Government, Adelaide City Council and Canberra Institute of Technology.

Ceramic Fuel Cells began selling BlueGen units in May 2009, and posted a loss of $8.4 million for the six months to last December 31, due to a 37 per cent drop in sales revenue and the impact of a stronger Australian dollar.

"We're in the process of starting to ramp up sales and that will deliver revenue to get us cash-flow positive and then ultimately profitable," Mr Neilson says. AAP

Carbon Tax to reduce Unemployment

Henry Ergas claims in an article in The Australian today that unemployment will fall as a result of the government's carbon tax.

The article, oddly entitled "Black hole in government's carbon tax compensation plan", Henry Ergas explains "A carbon tax increases prices relative to wages. As the Ross Garnaut report acknowledges, that reduces incentives to work, which are already blunted by the income tax. With reduced work incentives lowering labour supply..."

What this in fact says is the carbon tax will cause unemployment to fall.

The unemployment rate is a measure of the number of people seeking employment who are not able to find work. When the number of people seeking work declines, the unemployment rate goes down.

Henry Ergas argues that the introduction of the carbon tax will lower the labour supply, which means there will be fewer people looking for work.