Brad Wall defends silence on Boundary Dam Issues

T

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
11,548
0
36
Mike McKinnon reported here (link is external) on the glaring gap between what Brad Wall knew about the failings of the Boundary Dam carbon capture and storage project, and the propaganda he spread publicly starting last year.


Wall defends silence on Boundary Dam shortcomings | Globalnews.ca


Geoff Leo has exposed (link is external) one set of design issues which have been withheld from the public.


SNC-Lavalin-built carbon capture facility has 'serious design issues': SaskPower - Saskatchewan - CBC News


And the Canadian Press raises (link is external) the question of what SaskPower is supposedly trying to sell abroad.


SaskPower travel costs to boast beleaguered CO2 capture plant challenged | CTV Regina News


Update: See also McKinnon's later report (link is external) questioning the business case for Boundary Dam in the first place.


What’s the business case for Boundary Dam? | Globalnews.ca
 
T

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
11,548
0
36
Carbon capture once seemed promising -- even as recently as a decade ago, when coal fueled almost half of U.S. electricity generation.

Back then, continued dependence on the dirty fuel looked inevitable, and a strategy to deal with its prodigious greenhouse-gas emissions seemed essential. Hence, utilities embarked on model coal plants that would capture the carbon dioxide before it could enter the atmosphere.

Only a couple have been built, in addition to Southern's in Kemper County, Mississippi, and none has established an economic case for carbon capture. The Petra Nova facility, in Texas, was reportedly finished on time and on budget, but its construction required a $190 million federal grant, and the carbon-capture unit requires a separate gas-fired power plant.


Canada's Boundary Dam carbon-capture unit, meanwhile, has operated much less efficiently than expected, suffering multiple breakdowns and requiring expensive repairs.

Unfortunately, such costs and complexities are unlikely to diminish very much, and few such facilities are likely to be built worldwide in the next 20 years. A new report issued by the Global Warming Policy Foundation concludes that carbon capture for coal-fired power has "no plausible economic future."

It would be a mistake to give up completely on carbon capture technology. It has been used effectively in the chemical and oil industries, and it may be able to help reduce emissions from steel plants and other industrial sources. But it can no longer be viewed as a savior for coal-fired power plants -- or as a rationale to build new ones.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-30/-clean-coal-will-always-be-a-fantasy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom