DOE Awards $2.5 Million for Direct Air Capture Study at Constellation Nuclear Plant In Illinois
April 19 2022 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Department of Energy grant will be used to
research potential game-changing carbon removal technology at Byron
Generating Station in Northern Illinois
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $2.5 million
grant to Constellation and its project partners to explore the
benefits of constructing direct air capture (DAC) technology at the
company’s Byron nuclear energy plant in Northern Illinois. While
nuclear plants do not produce any carbon emissions, direct air
capture would remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, a
possible next-generation technology to help our nation combat the
climate crisis.
Constellation, the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free
energy, will partner with 1PointFive Inc., Worley Group Inc.,
Carbon Engineering Ltd., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and
the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to research the
viability of DAC technology at the zero-emission Byron plant.
“This exciting DOE collaboration highlights Constellation’s
continued use of innovation and leverages the clean energy
expertise at our nuclear plants to further advance climate saving
projects in the communities we serve,” said Joseph Dominguez, CEO
of Constellation. “We need many new solutions to address the
climate crisis and exploring this technology at one of our clean
energy centers is a positive step driving us toward a carbon-free
future.”
The DAC project at Byron Station could capture 250,000 tons of
CO2 each year, reducing global carbon emissions and helping to
decarbonize energy intensive sectors of the economy. The study will
also focus on the potential for a nuclear plant to become the
center of a direct air carbon capture hub, partnering the DAC
technology with storage of CO2.
“Carbon dioxide removal is essential” to zeroing out greenhouse
gas emissions, according to a report issued earlier this month by
the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The
report stated the world must act now to reduce emissions before
global temperatures rise to dangerous levels by the year 2050.
The carbon-removal DAC study at Byron Station will involve
Carbon Engineering’s DAC technology, licensed to 1PointFive, within
plant operations at the Byron nuclear plant and its twin
495-foot-tall hyperbolic cooling towers. In the proposed study, a
chemical solution would be added to water flowing through the
facility’s main condenser on the non-nuclear side of the plant.
After traveling through the condenser, the water would travel out
to the cooling towers, where CO2 in the air will attach itself to
the chemical solution and become captured and sequestered for later
use, potentially in industrial processes that will have net zero
emissions ranging from creating sustainable aviation fuel to
beverage industry (carbonation) production.
The study, which is expected to conclude in 2023, is designed to
leverage the massive flow of clean water vapor from the cooling
towers to eliminate carbon emissions created by emitting power
plants, transportation and other industrial sources. The study will
inform any future decisions around how and where a DAC facility
might be integrated with a nuclear plant.
“Constellation’s nuclear experts deliver world-class reliability
while incorporating innovative methods to help address climate
change,” said Dave Rhoades, Chief Nuclear Officer at Constellation.
“A project like this will give nuclear power, which already
delivers the most carbon-free electricity of any source in the
nation, an even bigger role in helping America accelerate the
transition to a carbon-free future.”
About Constellation Constellation is the nation’s largest
producer of carbon-free energy and the leading competitive retail
supplier of power and energy products and services for homes and
businesses across the United States. Headquartered in Baltimore,
its generation fleet powers more than 20 million homes and
businesses and is helping to accelerate the nation’s transition to
clean energy with more than 32,400 megawatts of capacity and annual
output that is 90 percent carbon-free. Constellation has set a goal
to eliminate 100 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by
leveraging innovative technology and enhancing its diverse mix of
hydro, wind and solar resources paired with the nation’s largest
carbon-free nuclear fleet. Constellation’s family of retail
businesses serves approximately 2 million residential, public
sector and business customers, including three-fourths of the
Fortune 100. Learn more at www.constellation.com or on Twitter at
@ConstellationEG.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220419005247/en/
Brett Nauman Constellation Communications 303-433-6894
brett.nauman@constellation.com
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