AN: U21E-01    [Abstracts]
TI: The 'Risk' of Implementing New Regulations on Game-Changing Technology: Sequestering CO2 in the Built Environment.
AU: * Constantz, B
EM: nickole@calera.biz
AB: Calera's Carbon Capture and Conversion (CCC) technology with beneficial reuse has been called, "game- changing" by Carl Pope, Director of the Sierra Club. Calera offers a solution to the scale of the carbon problem. By capturing carbon into the built environment, Calera provides a sound and cost-effective alternative to Geologic Sequestration and Terrestrial Sequestration. By chemically bonding carbon dioxide into carbonate minerals, this CCC technology permanently converts CO2 into a mineral form which can be stored above- ground, on the floor of the ocean, or used as a building material. The process produces a suite of carbonate containing minerals of various polymorphic forms and crystallographic characteristics, which can be substituted into blends with portland cements to produce concretes with reduced carbon, carbon neutral, and negative carbon footprints. For each ton of product produced, approximately half a ton of carbon dioxide is sequestered using the Calera process. A number of different technologies have been proposed for trapping CO2 into a permanent mineral form. One such process utilizes flue gas from power plants, cement plants, foundries, etc. as a feedstock for production of carbonate mineral forms which can be used as cements and aggregates for making concrete. The carbonate materials produced are essentially forms of limestone, which have morphologies which allow them to glue themselves together when mixed with water, just as conventional portland cement does. The result is a cemented limestone product, which has the permanent structure and stability of the limestone, which forms 10% of the earth's crust. A significant advantage of this process is that it does not require the separation of CO2 from the flue gas, a highly cost and energy intensive step. By producing a usable product, CCC also provides an economical solution to global warming. While the cost of this process may, in some cases, exceed the selling price of the resultant materials, the value produced combined with available carbon credits makes this CCC technology economically and environmentally sustainable. Calera has a pilot plant and laboratory operating at Moss Landing, CA, within the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary. During operation, the Calera process draws in seawater, which is combined with a variety of natural and manufactured minerals held in liquid suspension. Flue gas from the neighboring power plant is then sparged through the liquid. The process may also be enhanced by supplementing the water with additional minerals. These minerals are then separated from the seawater and are further processed to produce cement or other building materials. After the seawater flows through the Calera process, additional flue gas is sparged through the water to restore the native bicarbonate buffer levels and pH to match the pH of the incoming seawater, and within the prescribed limits. The outflow will be largely unchanged, with the exception of being calcium and magnesium depleted. One of the biggest hurdles Calera faces today is gaining support for this new technology. Most of the state and federal regulatory agencies are very familiar with geologic sequestration, and consequently most of the legislative language is geared towards supporting this form of carbon capture. For example, when a Request for Proposal comes out from the Department of Energy it often limits applicants to some form of geologic sequestration activity. This scenario is true for grant funding, loans and tax credits. Calera is spending a considerable amount of time and effort to open these opportunities up to all forms of carbon capture. An overview of the process along with the risk involved in changing regulations will be presented.
class="ab'> DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 1699 General or miscellaneous
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling (0428)
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2009 Joint Assembly