US, Italy to cooperate on carbon capture and storage

greenhouse gas, from power plants in order to mitigate the plants’ contribution to global warming. Image sourced from STOCKXPERT.
The US and Italy yesterday signed a bilateral agreement to cooperate in advancing carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) or technologies in each country.

The agreement was signed during both countries’ attendance in the Group of Eight industrialized nations’ Energy Ministers Meeting hosted by Italy.

In their agreement, the US and Italy vowed to further the development of technologies needed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Several Italian universities and research centers have been identified for collaboration, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The Energy department’s own National Energy Technology Laboratory will lead the US’s partnership efforts on CCS, also called clean coal.

CCS refers to the capture of carbon dioxide, the most potent greenhouse gas, from power plants in order to mitigate the plants’ contribution to global warming.

Under their clean coal partnership, Italy and the US will cooperate on the areas of power generation processes, advanced coal gasification technologies, power system simulations, and characterizing subsurface carbon sequestration potential.

The collaboration is expected to lead to the initiation of “experimental” technologies. Development of CCS technologies could reduce the cost and allow for faster implementation in heavily coal dependent nations, the DOE said.

“To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we must accelerate our efforts to capture and store carbon in a safe and cost-effective way. This agreement between the Department of Energy and Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development will play an important role in advancing the development and commercial deployment of CCS technologies in the years ahead,” Energy Sec. Steven Chu said.

The G8 Energy Ministers Meeting which began yesterday and ends today in Rome, tasks ministers to “define the rules and principles for a new world energy leadership” and make partnerships for the development of low-carbon energy systems.



US, Italy to cooperate on carbon capture and storage

RSS Posted by Krasugir & Co at 8:23 AM