Eliminating CO₂ Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants

This chapter reviews carbon capture and storage (CCS), lays out a number of novel concepts for coal-fired power plants that do not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and discusses these concepts in the context of retrofits of existing power plants, in the development of advanced power plant designs, and in conjunction with adequate carbon dioxide storage options. Stabilizing the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is possible only if carbon dioxide emissions from all sources are stopped. Fossil fuels can still provide energy, but the carbon dioxide resulting from the combustion must be captured and stored safely and permanently. CCS could provide a solution to the climate-change problem, but the introduction of this novel technology is a major undertaking. From a technology development point of view, one must distinguish between retrofitting existing power plants and designing new power plants with CO₂ capture fully integrated.