據世界石油4月15日彭博社報道，美國正在建造一種不會向大氣中排放溫室氣體的新型發電廠，這可能為公用事業公司提供一種在不導致全球變暖的情況下繼續燃燒天然氣的方式。
Net Power公司計劃在美國建造兩座天然氣發電廠，將所有的排放都收集起來并深埋地下。這家初創公司將其技術授權給了將與農業巨頭Archer-Daniels-Midlands Co.合作的開發商8 Rivers Capital公司，以取代伊利諾伊州一家燃煤電廠的部分排放。
對于另一家工廠，8 Rivers與科羅拉多州的Ute Indian Tribe南部部落成長基金合作。這兩個項目都將在今年設計和開發，8 Rivers稱這需要花費數千萬美元。是否繼續建設這些廠的最終決定將于2022年做出。
Net Power公司的技術使用一種新型渦輪機在氧氣中燃燒天然氣，而不是在空氣中。因此，該工廠只產生二氧化碳和水副產品。水可以從混合物中凍結，純凈的CO?可以埋在枯竭的油氣井或類似的地質結構中。
所需的氧氣通過與需要能量的空氣分離而獲得。但Net Power公司表示，其渦輪機的效率更大，因此，總的來說，該系統的整體效率與將其排放物排放到大氣中的先進天然氣發電廠相匹配。使用氧氣的另一個好處是，Net Power不會產生任何會造成當地空氣污染的氮排放。
2018年，這家初創公司在德克薩斯州建立了一個運行良好的試點工廠，可以產生約25兆瓦的電力。伊利諾伊州和科羅拉多州的工廠將成為Net Power的首批商業規模工廠。 每個工廠將能夠產生280兆瓦的電力。科羅拉多州的發電廠預計也將使用空氣冷卻，Net Power公司表示，這將把需水量減少到零。
8 Rivers首席執行官Cam Hosie表示，大項目需要時間。對于快速采用這項技術來說，最重要的是第一個項目的成功。大約還有十幾家其他的凈電廠處于不同的開發階段，其中一些計劃在美國以外建造。
伊利諾伊州的發電廠會將其排放物注入到現有的CO2井中，該井目前掩埋了乙醇生產設施的排放物。科羅拉多州的工廠尚未決定將其排放物埋在何處，但8 Rivers表示，該發電廠的地點靠近一條CO2管道，該管道擴大了可用于存儲碳的面積。
盡管發電廠不會產生任何污染，但環保主義者仍對天然氣的持續使用感到擔憂。化石燃料的生產和運輸確實會導致排放，而依靠天然氣的公司將不得不減輕排放。
這兩家工廠都將獲得美國稅收抵免，相當于每噸注入地下的二氧化碳約合50美元。與太陽能和風能情況一樣，該稅收抵免旨在補貼早期的氣候技術，直到它們能夠與現有的以化石燃料為基礎的現有企業競爭。
每家電廠預計將耗資5億美元以上，8 Rivers及其合作伙伴將在投資決定截止日期前籌集這筆資金。
郝芬 譯自 世界石油
原文如下：
U.S. startup plans to build first zero-emission gas power plants
A new kind of power plant that doesn’t add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is being built in the U.S., potentially providing a way for utilities to keep burning natural gas without contributing to global warming.
Net Power intends to build two natural-gas power plants in the U.S. that will have all its emissions captured and buried deep underground. The startup licensed its technology to developer 8 Rivers Capital LLC, which will work with agriculture giant Archer-Daniels-Midlands Co. to replace some emissions from a coal power plant in Illinois.
For the other plant, 8 Rivers is working with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund in Colorado. Both projects will be designed and developed this year, which 8 Rivers says requires spending tens of millions of dollars. A final decision on whether to go ahead with the facilities is due in 2022.
Net Power’s technology uses a new kind of turbine to burn natural gas in oxygen, rather than the air. As a result, the plant only produces carbon dioxide and water as a byproduct. The water can be frozen out of the mixture and the pure stream of CO? can be buried in depleted oil and gas wells or similar geological structures.
The required oxygen is secured by separating it from the air, which needs energy. But Net Power says its turbine is more efficient so that, on balance, the overall efficiency of the system matches that of an advanced natural-gas power plant that pumps its emissions into the atmosphere. Another upside of using oxygen is that Net Power plants do not produce any nitrogen emissions, which would cause local air pollution.
The startup built a functioning pilot plant in Texas in 2018 that can generate about 25 megawatts of power. The Illinois and Colorado plants will be Net Power’s first commercial-scale units. Each plant will be capable of generating 280 MW of electricity. The Colorado plant is also expected to use air cooling, which Net Power says will cut the amount of water required to zero.
“Big projects take time,” said Cam Hosie, chief executive officer of 8 Rivers. “The most important thing for the rapid adoption of this technology is going to be that the first projects are successful.” Hosie said that about a dozen other Net Power plants are in various phases of development, with some planned to be built outside the U.S.
The Illinois power plant will inject its emissions into an already existing CO? well, which currently buries emissions from an ethanol production facility. The Colorado plant hasn’t decided where to bury its emissions, but 8 Rivers says that the site of the power plant is close to a CO? pipeline which extends the area available for storing the carbon.
Though the power plant won't produce any pollution, environmentalists are concerned about the continued use of natural gas. The production and transportation of the fossil fuel does lead to emissions, which companies that rely on natural gas will have to mitigate.
Both plants will have access to a U.S. tax credit that amounts to about $50 for each ton of CO? injected into the ground. As in the case of solar and wind power, the credit seeks to subsidize early-stage climate technologies until they can compete with the existing fossil-fuel based incumbents.
Each of the power plants is expected to cost more than $500 million, which 8 Rivers and its partners will look to raise before the investment decision deadline.
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