Duke Energy receives $1 million to reduce greenhouse emissions

Duke Energy Corporation recently received a $1 million grant to build a new plant in Plainfield, Ind., that will utilize coal gasification technology in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. \nThe grant was provided by the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Program, a collaborating network of more than 35 members led by Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle, an international science and technology enterprise.\nThe 630-megawatt plant will utilize an integrated gasification combined cycle. This is a process that breaks down coal into its basic chemical constituents and produces a synthesis gas. \nThe syngas is then further purified of mercury and sulfur particles being used to fuel a combustion turbine generator to produce electricity.\n“This is a five-to-seven-year-old technology that is just coming onto the table,” said John Rupp of the Indiana Geological Survey. “It’s new, untested and being developed.” \nAlong with mercury and sulfur, carbon dioxide will be sequestered and stored underground in natural reservoirs. As a result, geological considerations play a major part in determining the most appropriate locations for the new technology, Rupp said.