CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia University will lead a new effort to help develop technology to capture greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, as part of a U.S.-China partnership focused on clean energy.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the plan Thursday, less than a week before his planned visit to Charleston to discuss carbon capture and storage, or CCS.
DOE will provide a consortium led by WVU with $12.5 million as part of the new U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center project. Partners in the consortium -- which includes various universities and utility companies -- will match that for a total of $50 million in funding.
Along with the CCS research led by WVU, the new center will also include a consortium led by the University of Michigan to work on advanced technologies for cleaner vehicles.
"The U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center will help accelerate the development and deployment of clean vehicle and clean coal technologies here at home," Chu said in a prepared statement. "This new partnership will also create new export opportunities for American companies, ensure the United States remains at the forefront of technology innovation, and help to reduce global carbon pollution."
The Energy Department's press release on the new WVU program included comments from Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Carte Goodwin, both D-W.Va.
Rockfeller said, "I firmly believe that new clean energy technologies must be part of America's and West Virginia's energy future and it is important for all of us that West Virginia is being given this additional chance to play a lead role in the advancement of CCS."
Goodwin said, "West Virginia is leading the way for our country's energy future. The United States has the capability to be a global leader in clean energy technologies, and I am proud that West Virginia University will play a critical role in getting us there."
Rockefeller is sponsoring legislation that would pump more government money into CCS research and deployment efforts. But both Rockefeller and Goodwin have opposed what most experts say is the major hurdle to widespread deployment of the technology: Comprehensive federal climate change legislation that includes mandatory reductions in greenhouse emissions.
Coal plants account for a third of the nation's greenhouse emissions. While coal supporters and many scientists believe carbon capture technology can be a part of the solution, there are major questions about the cost, scale and feasibility of equipment that would need to be installed on power plants around the world.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a worldwide group of scientific experts, concluded in 2007 that carbon capture and storage might not make "important contributions" to climate change mitigation until after 2030.
Last month, an Obama administration task force co-chaired by Chu concluded that barriers to CCS deployment are not "insurmountable" and set a goal of having 5 to 10 commercial CCS demonstration projects online by 2016.
Chu and Rockefeller are scheduled to discuss CCS issues Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the University of Charleston in a forum on the future of the coal industry. The free event will be at the university's Geary Auditorium.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.