Capturing CO2
As the nation seeks to address climate change, carbon capture and storage has been widely viewed as one of the technologies with potential to both reduce greenhouse gases and ensure the continued use of coal —the most abundant fossil fuel—to generate electricity.
To advance reliable and cost-effective carbon capture and storage, Southern Company is undertaking a number of ground-breaking research and development projects. Much of the research is aimed at helping the industry better understand the performance, reliability and cost, as well as public risks and benefits, of various carbon capture and storage approaches. Initiatives include:
- Underground Carbon Dioxide Injection - Mississippi Power's Plant Daniel, as part of the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, is a host site for an underground carbon dioxide injection project. In this Department of Energy-funded, pilot-scale demonstration, 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide were injected into a deep saline rock formation located 8,500 feet below the ground surface and now is being monitored. In addition to furthering the understanding of technological issues, the project is focusing on public acceptance and permitting issues.
- Unmineable Coal Seam Injection - Near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, we are studying the injection of carbon dioxide into an unmineable coal seam. Coal seams show promise for geologic storage, as well as for coal-bed methane recovery.
- Enhanced Oil Recovery Injection - In partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Denbury Resources, we will examine the capacity of the Citronelle oil field to serve as a carbon dioxide storage site.
- Chilled Ammonia Carbon Dioxide Capture Pilot - Southern Company is a charter member of an Electric Power Research Institute-led consortium working with Alstom to demonstrate carbon dioxide capture from power plant exhaust gas using chilled ammonia.
