title: Opportunities for Decarbonizing Existing U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants via CO2 Capture, Utilization and Storage.
abstract: This study employs a power plant modeling tool to explore the feasibility of reducing unit-level emission rates of CO2 by 30% by retrofitting carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to existing U.S. coal-fired electric generating units (EGUs). Our goal is to identify feasible EGUs and their key attributes. The results indicate that for about 60 gigawatts of the existing coal-fired capacity, the implementation of partial CO2 capture appears feasible, though its cost is highly dependent on the unit characteristics and fuel prices. Auxiliary gas-fired boilers can be employed to power a carbon capture process without significant increases in the cost of electricity generation. A complementary CO2 emission trading program can provide additional economic incentives for the deployment of CCS with 90% CO2 capture. Selling and utilizing the captured CO2 product for enhanced oil recovery can further accelerate CCUS deployment and also help reinforce a CO2 emission trading market. These efforts would allow existing coal-fired EGUs to continue to provide a significant share of the U.S. electricity demand.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States.
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: §Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: †Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States.|§Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States.
authors.forename: Edward S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Rubin
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D003031:Coal / Q000191:economics; D004560:Electricity; D011210:Power Plants / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon