sustainable energy options:

Sustainable Energy Options:

Maintaining access to abundant fossil fuels

Klaus S. Lackner

Columbia University

November 2007

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

100 1000 10000 100000

GDP ($/person/year)

Pri

ma

ry E

ne

rgy

Co

ns

um

pti

on

(k

W/p

ers

on

)

Norway USA France UK

Brazil

Russia

India

China

$0.38/kWh (primary)

Energy, Wealth, Economic Growth

EIA Data 2002

IPCC Model Simulations of CO2 Emissions

Growth in Energy Consumption

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100

Year

Fra

cti

on

al

Ch

an

ge

Constant Growth 1.6% Plus Population Growth to 10 billion Closing the Gap at 2%

Energy intensity drop 1%/yr Energy Intensity drop 1.5%/yr Energy Intensity drop 2% per year

Constant per capita growth

Plus Population Growth

Closing the Gap

1% energy intensity reduction

1.5% energy intensity reduction

2.0% energy intensity reduction

Carbon as a Low-Cost Source of Energy

H.H. Rogner, 1997

Lift

ing

Cost

Cumulative Gt of Carbon Consumed

US1990$ per barrel of oil equivalent

Cumulative

Carbon

Consumption as

of1997

Refining

Carbon

Diesel

Coal

Shale

Fossil fuels are fungible

Tar

Oil

NaturalGas

Jet Fuel

Heat

Electricity

Ethanol

Methanol

DME

Hydrogen

SynthesisGas

The Challenge:Holding the Stock of CO2 constant

Constant emissions at

2010 rate

33% of 2010 rate

10% of 2010 rate

0% of 2010 rate

Extension of

Historic Growth

Rates

560 ppm

280 ppm

Comparison With Keeling’s Data

The Challenge:Holding the Stock of CO2 constant

Constant emissions at

2010 rate

33% of 2010 rate

10% of 2010 rate

0% of 2010 rate

Extension of

Historic Growth

Rates

560 ppm

280 ppm

The Mismatch in Carbon Sources and Sinks

43

1

2

5

1800-

2000

Fossil Carbon Consumption to

date

180ppmincrease in

the air 30% ofthe Oceanacidified

30% increase inSoil Carbon

50%increase

inbiomass

A Triad of Large Scale Options

• Solar– Cost reduction and mass-manufacture

• Nuclear– Cost, waste, safety and security

• Fossil Energy– Zero emission, carbon storage and

interconvertibility

Markets will drive efficiency, conservation and alternative energy

Small Energy Resources

• Hydro-electricity– Cheap but limited

• Biomass– Sun and land limited, severe competition with

food

• Wind– Stopping the air over Colorado every day?

• Geothermal– Geographically limited

• Tides, Waves & Ocean Currents– Less than human energy generation

Net Zero Carbon EconomyNet Zero Carbon Economy

CO2 from distributed emissions

Permanent & safe disposal

CO2 from concentrated

sources

Capture from power plants, cement, steel,

refineries, etc.

Geological Storage Mineral carbonate disposal

Capture from air

Dividing The Fossil Carbon Pie

900 Gt C

total

550 ppm

Past

10yr

Removing the Carbon Constraint

5000 Gt C

totalPast



Permanent & safe

disposal

CO2 from concentrated sources

Capture from power plants, cement,

steel, refineries, etc.

Geological Storage Mineral carbonate

disposal

Capture from air

Storage Life Time

5000 Gt of C

200 years at 4 times current rates of emission

Storage

Slow Leak (0.04%/yr)

2 Gt/yr for 2500 years

Current Emissions: 7Gt/year

Underground Injection

statoil

Gravitational TrappingSubocean Floor Disposal

Energy States of Carbon

Carbon

Carbon Dioxide

Carbonate

400 kJ/mole

60...180 kJ/mole

The ground state of carbon is a mineral

carbonate

Rockville Quarry

Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 + 3CO2(g) 3MgCO3 + 2SiO2 +2H2O(l)+63kJ/mol CO2

Bedrock geology GIS datasets – All U.S. (Surface area)120°W130°W

110°W

110°W

100°W

100°W 90°W

90°W

80°W

80°W

70°W

25°N 25°N

30°N 30°N

35°N 35°N

40°N 40°N

45°N 45°N

$0 1,000,000

Meters

Legend

ultramafic rock

67°W

67°W

66°W

66°W

65°W

18°N

18°N19°N

0 140,000

Meters

Puerto Rico

8733 km2

920 km2

166 km2Total = 9820 ±100 km2

Belvidere Mountain, Vermont

Serpentine Tailings

Oman Peridotite





sources

Capture from power plants, cement, steel,

refineries, etc.

Geological Storage Mineral carbonate disposal

Capture from air

Many Different Options

• Flue gas scrubbing– MEA, chilled ammonia

• Oxyfuel Combustion– Naturally zero emission

• Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle– Difficult as zero emission

• AZEP Cycles– Mixed Oxide Membranes

• Fuel Cell Cycles– Solid Oxide Membranes

CO2 N2

H2OSOx, NOx and

other Pollutants

Carbon

Air

Zero Emission Principle

Solid Waste

Power Plant

Steam Reforming

Boudouard Reaction

C + O2 CO2

no change in mole volume

entropy stays constantG = H

2H2 + O2 2H2O

large reduction in mole volumeentropy decreases in reactantsmade up by heat transfer to

surroundings G < H

Carbon makes a better fuel cell

PCO2CO2 O2-

CO32- CO3

2-CO32- CO3

2-

O2- O2- O2- CO2

Phase I: Solid Oxide

Phase II: Molten Carbonate

Multi-Phase Equilibrium

Proposed Membrane

CO2

CO2CO2

CO2

CO2

CO2CO2

CO2

CO2

CO2CO2

CO2

CO2

CO2 + O2- = CO32-

CO2

extraction from air



sources


CO2

1 m3of Air40 moles of gas, 1.16 kg

wind speed 6 m/s

0.015 moles of CO2

produced by 10,000 J of gasoline

2

20 J2

mv

Volumes are drawn to scale

CO2 Capture from Air

Wind area that carries 22 tons of CO2 per year

Wind area that carries 10 kW

0.2 m 2

for CO2 80 m 2

for Wind Energy

How much wind? (6m/sec)

50 cents/ton of CO2 for contacting

Air Flow

Ca(OH)2 solution

CO2 diffusion

CO2 mass transfer is limited by diffusion in air boundary layer

Ca(OH)2 as an absorbent

CaCO3 precipitate

Sorbent Choices

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

100 1000 10000 100000

CO2 Partial Pressure (ppm)

Bin

din

g E

ne

rgy

(k

J/m

ole

)

350K

300KAir Power plant

60m by 50m

3kg of CO2 per second

90,000 tons per year

4,000 people or

15,000 cars

Would feed EOR for 800 barrels a day.

250,000 units for worldwide CO2 emissions

The first of a kind

EnergySource

EnergyConsumer

H2O H2O

O2

O2

H2

CO2

CO2

H2 CH2

Materially Closed Energy Cycles

C H

O

Fuels

Oxidizer

Combustion products

Biomass

CO

Fischer Tropsch Synthesis GasMethanol

EthanolNatural Gas

Town Gas

PetroleumCoal

GasolineBenzeneCarbon Hydrogen

CO2 H2O

Oxygen

Increasing Hydrogen Content

Incr

easi

ng O

xid

ati

on S

tate

Methane

Free

O2

Free C

- H

Private SectorCarbon Extraction

CarbonSequestratio

n

Farming, Manufacturing, Service, etc.

Certified Carbon Accounting

certificates

certification

Public Institutionsand Government

Carbon Board

guidance

Permits

&

Credits

sustainable energy options:

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