Clean Coal: A Compendium of Canada's Participation

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Table of Contents

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• BACKGROUND
• INTRODUCTION
  • STRUCTURE OF DOCUMENT
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS
• PART A: ORGANIZATIONS
  • 1. COORDINATION/PLANNING - CANADA
  • 2. CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
  • 3. RESEARCH – GOVERNMENTS
  • 4. RESEARCH – UNIVERSITIES
  • 5. CANADIAN COAL-BURNING UTILITIES
  • 6. REGULATORY AGENCIES
  • 7. ENVIRONMENTAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (ENGOs)
  • 8. PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES
  • 9. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES (NON-RESEARCH)
  • 10. GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
• PART B: PROJECTS (S&T, ECONOMICS, IMPLEMENTATION, OUTREACH)
  • 1. GENERIC MODELING AND CHARACTERIZATION
  • 2. COAL BENEFICIATION & CLEANING
  • 3. BIOMASS CO-FIRING
  • 4. EMISSION REDUCTION (without CO₂ capture)
  • 5. CO₂ CAPTURE – GENERAL
  • 6. CO₂ CAPTURE – SOLVENTS
  • 7. CO₂ CAPTURE- GASIFICATION
  • 8. CO₂ CAPTURE- OXY-FUEL
  • 9. CO₂ CAPTURE – MEMBRANES
  • 10. CO₂ CAPTURE-OTHER
  • 11. DEMONSTRATIONS/ COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENTATION
  • 12. OUTREACH
• PART C: KEY STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS
  • Doc 1.1 Canada’s Clean Coal Technology Roadmap (2005)
  • Doc 1.2 Canada’s CO₂ Capture and Storage Technology Roadmap (2006)
  • Doc 1.3 CANiCAP (2005)
  • Doc 1.4 IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (2005)
• PART D: CURRENT PRACTICE RELATED TO EMISSION CONTROL AT CANADIAN COAL-FIRED PLANTS
  • 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 2. NATIONAL
  • 3. FEDERAL
  • 4. NOVA SCOTIA
  • 6. ONTARIO
  • 7. MANITOBA
  • 8. SASKATCHEWAN
  • 9. ALBERTA

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Executive Summary

Coal remains a key component of Canada’s diverse energy supply picture, accounting for as much as 20% of electricity generation. Six of Canada’s provinces rely to some degree on coal to supply electrical power, with three (Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta) almost fully reliant. It is estimated that Canada has sufficient coal resources for more than 1000 years at current rates of utilization, with particularly extensive deposits in Western Canada. Moreover, a substantial portion of these resources can be recovered at costs that are a fraction of the current prices for oil and natural gas. Given that over the next 25 years Canada will need to replace 18,000 MW of existing coal-fired generation as well as expand its overall generation capacity by roughly 40,000 MW, there is the potential for a strong role for coal in future energy supply. Other solid fuels, such as petroleum coke, bitumen and others are also used in significant quantities to generate electricity and steam in Canada.

Despite its attributes and the continued need for it, if coal is to play a significant role in Canada’s future energy supply, serious environmental impacts of coal usage will have to be dramatically reduced. Emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO and NO₂) have traditionally been the main concern. Proven technologies, such as flue gas desulphurisation, selective catalytic reactors, low NO_xburners and fluidized bed combustion, are available – albeit at a cost – to reduce these emissions. Recently, pending legislation on air toxics, especially mercury, on fine particulates, and on GHG emissions has emerged as a more formidable challenge. Canada’s GHG emissions from electricity generation in 2004 were 130 Mt. The overwhelming proportion, about 75%, was from the use of coal.

The importance of retaining coal as a viable option for future electricity production has given rise to a great deal of work in Canada and across the world to identify, develop and implement clean coal technology (CCT). The needed technologies must be capable of approaching near-zero air emissions yet be implemented without excessive cost and low financial and operating risk. Compared to existing coal power plants, new CCT plants will soon be targeting near-zero emissions as a performance standard, and Canadian researchers, electric utilities and industry are at the forefront of making this happen.

The importance of coal in energy and environmental policy, the substantial public and private sector investment in clean coal science and technology (S&T), and the potential for Canadian industrial capacity to supply clean coal technologies to international markets has led Natural Resources Canada, Industry Canada, and Environment Canada to initiate a survey of Canadian clean coal activities. This Compendium is the result of that survey. It is expected that the Compendium will help the Canadian community engaged in CCT to identify gaps, set priorities, and promote cooperation. The Compendium can also serve to inform regulators and other decision makers of the extensive amount of work underway and the progress that has been made.

The Compendium is a broad compilation of current work and active participants, including not only scientific and engineering aspects, but also activities that address economics, implementation, public education and outreach, and regulation. The Compendium applies the term clean coal in its broadest sense, including the full range of coals, pet coke, other residuals of oil sands processing, biomass co-firing, and so on. It covers not only efforts towards near-zero emission coal incorporating CO₂ capture but also activities targeted to a subset of current emissions (e.g. mercury) either individually or incorporated into a multi-pollutant approach.

This report seeks to compile all Canadian activity in CCT. The report has four main components. The first provides brief descriptions of the principal Canadian organizations engaged in CCT and the international organizations involved in CCT in which Canada or Canadian organizations play an active role. Ninety-five (95) organizations are so featured. The second component features summaries of specific projects underway (as of early 2007) or recently completed (2004 or later); 86 projects are described. Part 3 describes four documents that help define Canada’s strategy of developing capacity in CCT. The final component provides an overview of current coal-fired practice in Canada, including the units that make up the current coal-fired utility fleet, the combustion technology and emission reduction strategies employed, the regulatory regimes under which they operate, and the emission performance achieved.

Each entry in the compendium provides a brief description of the organization or activity, highlights the role it plays in CCT, identifies and provides links to contacts for additional information and, for projects, sets out the duration, cost and participants.

Of the 95 organizations described (see Figure 1):

• 20 provide coordination and planning of CCT activities, of which 8 operate within Canada and 12 are international;
• 15 perform the vast majority of the R&D in CCT in Canada, of which 11 are universities (including 4 universities with substantial engagement (having a significant group with substantial concentration in clean coal or related aspects) and 7 with lesser involvement (a few projects by individual professors)) and the balance are federal (2) and provincial (2) research organizations;
• 31 are companies who are developing and marketing CCT technologies or providing design and engineering services in support of CCT;
• 9 are Canadian electrical utilities that use coal for at least part of their fuel supply, some of which are active in the development and implementation of clean coal technologies;
• 7 are federal and provincial government agencies involved in regulation or aspects other than research performance;
• 5 are environmental non-government organizations; and
• 8 are government programs supporting CCT projects.

Of the 86 projects, 68 are at the R&D stage, 16 are focused on commercial implementation and demonstration and 2 address outreach (see Figure 2). Of the 68 R&D projects, the dominant focus is CO₂ capture (54 projects – for a breakout see Figure 3) with a number of other subjects with much smaller frequencies - emission reduction without CO₂ capture (7), generic modeling/ characterization (3), biomass co-firing (2) and coal beneficiation (2). Two of the generic modeling/characterization projects are also largely, but not exclusively, targeted to CO₂ capture technologies.

Figure 1: Distribution of the 95 organizations involved in Clean Coal Technologies

Figure 2: Distribution of the 86 Clean Coal Technology related projects by position in technology development and implementation cycle

Figure 3: Distribution of technologies in the 54 R&D projects with CO₂ capture as a major element

Figure 4: Types of new commercial plant proposed, designed or recently built

The 16 commercial demonstration/implementation projects are varied: (see Figure 4)

• Six are focused on new coal-fired plant with CO₂ capture and storage, 3 of which involve the design of specific coal-fired plants, 1 is centred on general commercial implementation of near-zero emission CCT and 2 others propose the construction of large-scale demos for their proprietary CO₂ capture technologies;
• One has begun the process of designing a pet coke-fired IGCC plant producing a mixture of chemical and energy products;
• Five have begun the process of designing and constructing gasification plants to produce energy and hydrogen for oil sands processing from oil sands by-products, of which 2 include CO₂ capture and storage in the design assessment;
• 2 feature construction of higher efficiency (supercritical) coal-fired plants; and
• 2 propose new biomass/coal co-fired plants.

Many of the projects involve multiple performers and multiple funding partners. However, if they are categorized by lead performer, 40 of the projects are conducted or led by universities, 24 by government research agencies (including provincial research organizations), 21 by industry (a category which includes any utility or for-profit company) and 1 by ENGOs (see Figure 5). The individual performers with the greatest number of CCT projects are the University of Regina and its associated International Test Centre for CO₂ Capture (12 projects) and Natural Resources Canada’s CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Ottawa (18 projects).

Figure 5: Distribution of 86 projects by nature of lead organization

Activity in Canada related to clean coal is growing rapidly, especially in the area of CO₂ capture. Of particular note is the number of commercial plants being designed and nearing construction that will achieve near-zero emissions. Also, the number of Canadian companies involved in technology development and implementation is very encouraging, both from the standpoint of implementation in Canada and for the potential to help implement these technologies in other countries.

While the contents of this compendium will quickly become out-dated, it is hoped that it will have a useful life, not least to demonstrate the resources the Canadian energy community is prepared to invest in this promising way of reducing our environmental emissions while retaining an attractive energy option.

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