Is Big Oil Going Green With Carbon Capture Technology?

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Exxon Mobil recently announced a renewed partnership with Fuel Cell Energy aimed at bringing Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technology into mainstream usage. The two companies have been collaborating on the project for several years and the latest announcement may be seen as a re-affirmation of Exxon’s investment in the program.

The process of carbon capture prevents carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by fossil fuel powered power plants from being released into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is instead transported to an underground storage facility. While seemingly straightforward, CCS technology has thus far eluded commercial application.

According to the company, Fuel Cell Energy’s CCS is different than conventional carbon capture technology. Traditional CCS requires large amounts of energy (and cost) to separate and compress carbon dioxide while Fuel Cell Energy proposes a system which it says “cleanly and efficiently converts chemical energy from hydrogen-rich fuels into electrical power….” Exxon predicts a 500-megawatt power plant powered by this type of CCS could actually produce 120 megawatts more energy than a conventional power plant versus say traditional capture technology that requires almost 50 megawatts of power to simply separate and convert the CO2. In other words, this new type of CCS would actually create useable energy in the process of storing COproduced by a conventional power plant.

Fuel Cell Energy has already deployed similar technology in more than 50 locations worldwide, although never directly connected to a power plant. The technology could hold great prospects for the future, especially in areas where fossil fuel use is likely to continue. Germany for example has continued along a path of building new coal fired power plants despite carbon outputs in an effort to retire nuclear generation facilities.

Figure 1: Primary Energy Consumption by Fuel Type (1980 – 2040)

While renewable energy comprises an important component of our energy portfolio, fossil fuels will remain imperative for the foreseeable future. Renewable technology currently lacks the maturity, advancement, stability, or size to completely provide enough power for the U.S. today. As illustrated in Figure 1 above, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, or IEA, predicts the world's economy will remain dependent to a large extent upon fossil fuel well beyond 2040. The new CCS technology proposed by Fuel Cell Energy could however serve as an important technological bridge until renewable technology is ready to meet the challenge.

Mr. McCown is a former government executive, attorney, public policy expert, and the founder of Aii. To learn more, visit him at or follow @BAMcCown.
