Introducing hydrogen power
Release date: 30 June 2005
BP's plan to generate electricity from hydrogen and capture carbon dioxide could set a new standard for cleaner energy
BP is developing the world's first industrial scale project to generate electricity using hydrogen manufactured from natural gas to create "decarbonized fuels", reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 90%.
The project offers a way of generating significant amounts of clean electricity from existing fossil fuels.
By combining separate technologies – hydrogen power generation and carbon capture and storage – in one integrated project, decarbonised fuels can play an important role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the main component in greenhouse gas emissions.
If applied to just five per cent of the new electricity generating capacity that the world is projected to require by 2050, such schemes would have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by around one billion tonnes a year – a material step in the challenge the world faces.
Rather than being released into the atmosphere, around 90% of the carbon dioxide created during the process would be transported via pipeline and injected deep underground for enhanced oil recovery and permanent storage in geological formations.
Decarbonized fuels represent a significant new step in providing clean energy to consumers, tackling carbon dioxide emissions believed to contribute to climate change and enhancing the recovery and utilization of known world energy resources. While each of the component technologies is already proven, their proposed combination in an integrated decarbonized fuels system is unique.
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Capturing carbon dioxide
To capture carbon dioxide and create decarbonized fuels, natural gas would first be converted into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen is a clean fuel and produces only water when burned. Using hydrogen as a fuel source would enable a power plant to generate electricity with around 90% fewer emissions.
The carbon dioxide created during the process would be captured and transported by pipeline to a mature oil and gas field, where it would be injected into the field’s reservoir located thousands of feet below the sea bed. Injecting carbon dioxide is a proven enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique that increases production of oil, extending the productive life of the field. In addition, injection would permanently store the carbon dioxide in a geological formation.
Miller production platform in the North Sea Industrial-scale decarbonized fuels project
BP has begun engineering and design for DF1, the first industrial scale installation of a decarbonized fuels system. The project is being planned for the Aberdeen area of Scotland.
DF1 would take natural gas from North Sea fields and convert it to hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen would then be used as fuel in Scotland's Peterhead power station while the carbon dioxide would be transported by an existing pipeline and injected for enhanced oil recovery and long-term geological storage in the Miller Field. Injecting the carbon dioxide into the Miller Field reservoir more than three kilometers under the seabed could extend the life of the field by about 20 years and enable additional production of about 40 million barrels of oil that are not currently recoverable.
When operational, it is planned that DF1 will create 350 megawatts of carbon-free electricity, enough to power a quarter of a million homes in the UK. The project would also permanently store 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of removing 300,000 cars from the roads.
The success of this UK scheme can provide a valuable global benchmark by which other clean fossil fuel schemes can be successfully advanced.
Decarbonized fuels is an integral part of BP's long-term commitment to addressing global climate change issues, including the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this section
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Hydrogen power
View each step in the process to create decarbonized fuels
Play the Flash movie
Related links
BP Alternative Energy
Delivering cleaner and renewable energy
Carbon Mitigation Initiative
External links
CO2 Capture Project
CO2 Capture Project - Video
Carbon Mitigation Initiative - Princeton University
Editorial Comment: I hope that BP are investing a substantial proportion of their £3.2bn profit from Jan - Mar 08 into this Peterhead/Miller project - - maybe the story should be given wider press/tv coverage in the interests of making the profits more acceptable to the general public.
This certainly seems to offer the way forward and may, in time, save our traditional fish and chips !! |
