ScottishPower plans CO2 burial in North Sea

ScottishPower has drawn an ambitious plan to bury carbon dioxide emissions. The plan envisages liquefying CO2, transporting it and burying it in rocks in North Sea.

The energy company hopes the British government will provide 100 million pounds funding for the pilot power plant. The plant will capture carbon dioxide which is normally released to the atmosphere and store it in a liquid form. It will then be transported to North Sea. The company claims to have located a rock formation there with a storage capacity big enough to accommodate CO2 emissions of whole of Europe for the coming 600 years.

ScottishPower’s plan is one of the four entries received by UK government to develop carbon capture & storage (CCS) technology. The government has set a target of developing world’s first power stations with CCS technology by 2014.

ScottishPower’s proposal involves conversion of one of its four coal powered generating units at Longannet to implement CCS technology. This is Scotland’s biggest power station generating 2,600 MW. Norwegian engineering group, Aker will provide the CCS technology which involves stripping down of CO2 emitted from burning coal with the help of chemical solvents. The CO2 gas will then be liquefied under pressure and transported using existing gas and oil pipelines to a secured storage area in North Sea’s seabed.

ScottishPower’s plan appears to be the most likely winner as the remaining three proposals involve constructing new coal-fired power plants. E. ON is one of the three who have submitted their plans.

Please visit www.scottishpower.com and www.eon.com for more