Posts Tagged ‘Methane’

EPA submits Greenhouse Gas rules to White House

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

It will be interesting to watch how the recently submitted EPA rules to the White House drive new dialogue among business leaders on how reporting requirements will affect bottom lines.  How will the new “tailoring rules” ultimately apply?

The Wall Street Journal reports: “EPA officials say the agency wants to finalize the rule by the end of April, but that timetable may slip into May. The EPA said earlier this year that the first phase would likely target facilities that emit more than 75,000 to 100,000 tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent a year starting in 2011. The agency hasn’t yet made clear the exact first-phase threshold.”

Landfills may be particularly impacted and would present a valuable opportunity  for municipal leaders to explore how the SWAP could be implemented to safely and cheaply process landfill gas (LFG) for power.  A recent article from the New York Times delves into the broad potential impact of these rules.

In the United States alone, there were more than 3,500 landfills in operation as documented by the EPA in 1995.  In 2003, we generated 236.2 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), an increase of 15 percent above 1990 levels and 168 percent above 1980 levels.  The number of landfill gas projects that generate electricity on-site, supply industrial gas-fired boilers, or produce substitute natural gas rules, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) jumped from approximately 400 in 2005 to 519 in 2009.

Many landfills are now accepting large quantities of construction and demolition debris in addition to MSW, which in sufficient quantities results in landfill gases with relatively high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  H2S is generally the byproduct of bacterial decomposition of construction wastes, particularly drywall containing calcium sulfate.   There is an interesting article from Environmental Leader on H2S and potential reporting requirements this month.

Landfill gas cleanup is likely to experience significant growth in the future as a renewable energy option.  Each landfill is normally a stand-alone operation close to an urban location.  Integrating SWAP technology at these locations, it is believed, would require minimal interface activities with existing processes.

www.swapsol.com

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EPA proposes oil and gas to report emissions

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Late last year at the Global Refining Strategies Summit in Houston,  major industry executives talked about new Washington rules on CO2 emissions not in terms of “if,” but “when.”  If you aren’t in the oil and gas business and blinked during the last three weeks during the healthcare battle on Capitol Hill, you might have missed the news:

March 4, 2010 WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency intends to require that power plants, refineries and other major sources of global-warming pollution get permits beginning in 2011 that would require them to cut emissions, the agency’s leader said Wednesday.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the EPA wants to regulate sources emitting more than 75,000 tons a year of polluting gaseous oxides (CO2, etc.) over the next three years.  Exactly how the EPA intends to monitor and regulate these emissions is the singular issue not lost on the environmental and industry lobbies in D.C.  Get ready for a knock-down drag out over what the country’s enviro-political landscape will or should look like for years to come.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

But stepping back, here’s what the EPA has done: it has proposed that oil, gas and other entities that emit CO2 and related pollutants be added to an existing list of companies that report their emissions levels yearly.  One pollutant cited by the EPA is methane, a gas generated by the petroleum industry that traps 20 percent more heat than carbon and is considered a major factor in climate change.  Another area the EPA is interested in is CO2 injection or “flooding” – a method used by producers to push oil out of the ground.

“Gathering this information is the first step toward reducing greenhouse emissions and fostering innovative technologies for the clean energy future,” said Jackson.

The industries cited will be asked to begin recording their emissions for a report submitted in 2012.

Research & Development

SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

Swapsol Corp. may have a potential solution that may make the worry over CO2 emissions a thing of the past.

SWAPSOL is developing commercial processes around a newly discovered chemical reaction verified to reduce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) below detectable levels while reacting with carbon dioxide (CO2) to form water, sulfur and carsuls, a carbon-sulfur polymer.

The Stenger-Wasas Process (SWAP) stands to fundamentally simplify sulfur removal technology as it consumes carbon dioxide in an exothermic reaction under relatively mild process conditions.

SWAPSOL will again present its science to the international oil and gas industry at the Global Refining Summit May 17-19  in Rotterdam.  It returns to Houston October 26-27 to meet with industry at the Global Refining Strategies Summit.

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Swapsol ushers in solution to clean up landfill gas?

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Laboratory studies show the SWAP drives a Sulfur Cycle which enables the user to generate H2S from most hydrocarbon wastes.  This of course is important because the SWAP uses H2S to convert CO2 into harmless compounds.

Landfill Methane flare

Landfill Methane flare

Landfills in particular, may benefit from the SWAP as they emit Methane.  These landfills can also become a source for raw materials.

The SWAP, which converts CO2 by rearranging its atomic components, may be used to create carbon-sulfur molecules called Carsuls, which may find application as carbon fiber-like materials in construction, aerospace, manufacturing and electronics.

It could very well be that as the SWAP is more widely adopted in areas such as waste management, sour gas and crude oil refining, among others, that we may begin to see the dawn of a new energy economy as we usher in a new era of literally profiting through environmental stewardship.

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A word on clean coal , Syngas and CO2 storage

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Much has been made of late about the benefits and/or viability of so-called clean coal technologies.  Indeed, in a national ad campaign the Reality Coalition has suggested that the aforementioned technology is an outright myth.  Yet depending on who you talk to,  the next decade may show these “clean coal” technologies will play a much larger role in electricity generation.

IGCC process (courtesy: Clean Coal Illinois)

IGCC process (courtesy: Clean Coal Illinois)

Among these  “clean” technologies is the production of synthesis gas (Syngas) through a relatively new process called Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC).  In short, heating coal under pressure in an oxygen-restricted environment produces Syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2).  With the notable exception of CO2, each of these products can be burned as fuel.  Methane is the chief component of natural gas.  Carbon monoxide and hydrogen can be burned in a gas turbine, or processed to produce liquid fuels through the Fischer-Tropsch process.

The scientific consensus on CO2 is that man-made carbon dioxide tops the list of global warming causes. Proponents of “clean coal” trumpet carbon capture and sequestration as a panacea; but it may be this line of thinking that has detractors and environmentalists up in arms.  While the science of Syngas technology is fairly well established, CO2 storage and sequestration is still an immerging technology, one we hope will gain ground given what we see as several notable obstacles.

CO2 capture and storage (courtesy: Total, S.A.)

CO2 capture & storage (courtesy: Total, S.A.)

But CO2 storage, potentially an attractive option, often hinges upon certain geological criteria.  If this option is to be taken seriously, we must identify compatible carbon sinks and depleted oilfields capable of permanently and safely housing large volumes of CO2. At an off shore undersea aquifer off Norway, for example, Statoil buries carbon dioxide extracted from natural gas to avoid paying pollution taxes to the Norwegian government.   And offshore storage, while effective, comes at a heavy cost both in terms of capital and energy efficiency.

What are the ways science can support these alternatives through supporting technologies?   Any working energy policy must be multi-tiered to be effective.  CO2 capture will certainly have its place in the new energy economy.  And with clean coal, we believe that cooperation across industries is the only answer.  When these companies begin to share new, tested and available technologies, we believe coal and its derivates may truly provide a substantial source of clean energy in the future. www.swapsol.com

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