DOE/NETL anticipates that U.S. coal-fired power plants will eventually be required to control their CO₂ emissions in order to address concerns with global climate change.  DOE/NETL systems analysis studies show that currently available CO₂ capture technologies are expensive and energy-intensive, which would seriously degrade the overall efficiency of both new and existing coal-fired power plants.  These studies indicate that installing the current state-of-the-art post-combustion CO₂ capture technology - chemical absorption with an aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA) solution – is estimated to increase the levelized cost of energy (COE) services by about 75 to 85 percent.  Therefore, DOE/NETL believes it is important to develop new advanced CO₂ capture technologies in order to maintain the cost-effectiveness of U.S. coal-fired power generation.

DOE/NETL’s Existing Plants, Emissions and Capture (EPEC) program (formerly known as Innovations for Existing Plants) is conducting research to develop advanced CO₂ capture technologies.  The program goal is to develop post- and oxy-combustion CO₂ capture technologies for new and existing coal-fired power plants that achieve 90 percent CO₂ capture at less than a 35 percent increase in COE and are available for commercial deployment beginning in 2020.  The critical R&D program targets supporting the achievement of these program goals include initiation of laboratory- through bench-scale testing of advanced concepts for post- and oxy-combustion technologies in 2009; followed by multiple pilot-scale slipstream field tests beginning 2010-2012; leading to full-scale field testing of the most promising advanced CO₂ capture technologies by 2014-2016.

Process schematic of amine-based CO2 capture system