article thumbnail

Converting Coal Power Plants to Nuclear Gains Steam

Cars That Think

On a planet aspiring to become carbon neutral, the once-stalwart coal power plant is an emerging anachronism. It is true that, in much of the developing world, coal-fired capacity continues to grow. But in every corner of the globe, political and financial pressures are mounting to bury coal in the past.

Coal 145
article thumbnail

Comparative genome study finds ancestral fungus may have influenced end of coal formation; potential resource for biofuel production

Green Car Congress

Robert Blanchette, University of Minnesota) Click to enlarge. Coal deposits—the fossilized remains of plants—were formed during a 60-million year period from around 360 to 300 million years ago. Once you have white rot you can break down lignin, the major precursor of coal. Punctularia strigoso-zonata.

Coal 261
article thumbnail

DOE awards $35M to 12 ARPA-E projects to reduce methane emissions; 5 on natural gas engines

Green Car Congress

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $35 million in funding for twelve projects focused on developing technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas, and coal industries. will adapt their combustor design to ensure 99.5% proposes a hybrid flare design coupled with advanced controls to ensure 99.5%

Gas 186
article thumbnail

New diamine-appended MOFs can capture CO2 for half or less of the energy cost of current materials

Green Car Congress

As we will show, the resulting mmen-M 2 (dobpdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn) compounds, here designated ‘phase-change’ adsorbents, can have highly desirable characteristics that make them superior to other solid or liquid sorbents for the efficient capture of CO 2. —McDonald et al. We got lucky.

Cost Of 150
article thumbnail

Study finds removing corn residue for biofuel production can decrease soil organic carbon and increase CO2 emissions; may miss mandated 60% GHG reduction

Green Car Congress

The results showed that the states of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin had the highest net loss of carbon from residue removal because they have cooler temperatures and more carbon in the soil. —Liska et al. As residue is a source of N 2 O emissions, residue removal would lower these emissions by ?4.6 g CO 2 e MJ ?1 8% of SOC emissions.

Carbon 220
article thumbnail

ARPA-E Awards $151M to 37 Projects for Transformative Energy Research

Green Car Congress

A novel process known as Syngas Chemical Looping (SCL), in which coal and biomass are converted to electricity and CO 2 is efficiently captured, has been successfully demonstrated on a laboratory scale. Energy Efficient Capture of CO 2 from Coal Flue Gas. Cyanobacteria Designed for Solar-Powered Highly Efficient Production of Biofuels.

Energy 231
article thumbnail

Perspective: Regional Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Programs May be the Solution

Green Car Congress

Cap-and-trade was first tried on a significant scale twenty years ago under the first Bush administration as a way to address the problem of airborne sulfur dioxide pollution–widely known as acid rain–from coal-burning power plants in the eastern United States. In May 2009, the Advisory Group released their draft final design recommendations.

Gas 244