Alternatives & New Technologies
emissions of energy-related carbon dioxide totaled 33,621.5 million metric tons. https://www.usgs.gov › faqs › what-carbon- sequestration Giant Batteries By becoming cheap enough to compete long- term with gas-fired plants, giant batteries are being seen as a means to ensure stable power supplies. Intermittent renewable sources of power such as wind and solar have needed back-up plants to compensate by providing back-up generation. By 2022, lithium-ion batteries cost less than half of what they did in 2016 per kilowatt hour of battery storage. Globally, numerous power plant projects have been put on hold or cancelled altogether, including in the United States. The European Union has introduced rules requiring gas plants looking for financing to be built with carbon capture capability or to be able to switch to using hydrogen or low carbon gases by 2035. Countries including the UK and U.S. are contemplating requirements for operators to retrofit plants with carbon capture infrastructure. East Coast Wind Power Developers plan to have five turbines operating at full capacity early this year as they move towards producing 806 MW of power in total from 62 wind turbines. Iberdrola’s U.S. renewables unit Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) said Jan. 3 they delivered 5 megawatts (MW) of power from their Vineyard Wind 1 project offshore Massachusetts. The milestone was reached as the U.S. continues efforts to increase offshore wind energy capacity, targeting 30 MW by 2030.
Carbon Capture & Sequestration U.S. companies are seeking to reduce their carbon footprints amid the energy transition. Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) improves the economics of CCS projects in the US by increasing the tax credit basis. Carbon management and other emissions reduction technologies are gaining momentum, with carbon capture and storage/sequestration (CCS) seen as a possible significant contributor to achieving “net zero”. Types of Carbon Sequestration 1. Biological Carbon Sequestration. Biological carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon dioxide in vegetation such as grasslands or forests, as well as in soils and oceans. 2. Geological Carbon Sequestration. Geologic carbon sequestration is the
process of storing carbon dioxide (CO2) in underground geologic formations. The CO2 is usually
pressurized until it becomes a liquid, and then it is injected into porous rock formations in geologic basins. One major concern with CCS is that CO2 could leak out of these underground reservoirs into the surrounding air and contribute to climate change, or taint nearby water supplies. Another is the risk of human-made tremors caused by the build-up of pressure underground, known as induced seismicity. 3. Technological Carbon Sequestration. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2019, the United States emitted 5,130 million metric tons of energy- related carbon dioxide, while the global
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G rowth T hrough E ducat i on - J anuary / F ebruary / M arch 2024
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