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Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper Submission
By Michael van Baarle, Director Business Development, Ambre Energy LimitedThe purpose of this submission is to outline briefly the potential impact of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme onemerging coal gasification projects that ultimately seek to reduce the carbon footprint of coal-based energyproduction, and to suggest ways in which adverse impacts might be mitigated.
Background
Ambre Energy Limited is developing its own coal gasification project known as the
Felton Clean Coal Project
atFelton, near Toowoomba, Queensland. The project will gasify local high-ash coal to produce a next-generationsynthetic fuel called dimethyl ether (or
DME
), and co-generate power.The project will begin with a demonstration stage during which 2,000 tonnes of coal per day will be mined andgasified to produce 1980 tonnes per day of synthesis gas (
syngas
– H
2
and CO in approximately equal volumes).The feed coal will have an ash content of about 35% which makes it unsuitable for export.The syngas will be fed into a DME reactor to produce about 445 tonnes per day of DME. In addition, there issufficient unreacted syngas (
tail gas
) discharged by the DME reactor to co-generate 51 MW of power using gasengines. About 10 MW of this power would be needed for internal purposes, with the balance being exported to thegrid.If the demonstration stage is successful, there are sufficient coal reserves onsite to expand the project in stages tomine and gasify 12.8 million tonnes per year of coal for the production of 2.8 million tonnes per year of DME and co-generation of 650 MW of power using combined cycle power plants. The environmentally significant features of theproject are:
M
uc
h
of
the
CO
in
the
tail
gas
will
be
“shifted”
pre
‐
combustion
to
CO
2
which
will
then
be
captured
in
a
pure
form
suitable
for
geosequestration.
During
the
demonstration
stage,
1339
tonnes
per
day
of
CO
2
will
be
captured
in
this
way.
The
consequences
of
shifting
the
CO
to
CO
2
will
be
to
concentrate
the
hydrogen
content
of
the
tail
gas
to
60%
(by
volume).
Combustion
of
the
tail
gas
will
then
generate
power
with
an
emissions
profile
of
400kg
of
CO
2
per
MWhr
–
less
than
half
of
that
produced
by
a
modern
black
coal
‐
fired
power
station
(and
less
than
a
third
of
brown
coal
‐
fired
power).
The
future
development
of
hydrogen
turbines
should
allow
for
the
concentration
of
hydrogen
in
the
tail
gas
to
exceed
60%
(this
is
the
limit
of
current
commercial
turbines)
by
shifting
more
of
the
CO
in
the
tail
gas
to
CO
2
.
This
would
have
the
effect
of
reducing
the
emissions
profile
of
the
power
generation
even
further.
DME
(chemical
formula
CH
3
‐
O
‐
CH
3
)
is
the
cleanest
and
most
efficient
fuel
being
proposed
for
the
ultimate
replacement
of
petroleum
‐
based
fuels
for
diesel
engines,
in
particular,
because
combustion
of
DME
produces
virtually
no
particulate
matter.
DME
is
also
an
excellent
fuel
for
fuel
cells.
The demonstration stage is scheduled for commissioning in 2011 and is designed to be commercially viable even before anyexpansions.Many informed commentators have expressed the view that the development of coal gasification projects, in conjunctionwith rapid development of renewable forms of energy, presents the world with its most realistic chance of stabilizing globalgreenhouse gas levels in the coming decades. Renewable sources of energy alone are unlikely to be able to provide thevolume of energy needed by the world, particularly as populous countries such as China and India modernize theireconomies.Coal gasification is important because of the relative ease with which pure CO
2
(and local pollutants such as sulphur andnitrogen compounds) can be stripped from the gas stream before combustion for power generation. This makes carboncapture and storage technically and commercially feasible. By comparison, stripping pure CO
2
from the flue gases oftraditional coal-fired power stations is a difficult and expensive undertaking.Aside from the environmental benefits, the development of cleaner uses of coal, particularly low-value coal, is strategicallyimportant for Australia because of its vast reserves of this energy-rich fuel. Moreover, this strategic importance is increasingas local oil production declines and natural gas prices increase.
Impact of Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
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