National Carbon Capture Center in Alabama tops 150,000 technology testing hours
The National Carbon Capture Center draws researchers and companies from across the globe. (contributed)
The National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in Alabama has reached a milestone, surpassing 150,000 hours of technology testing.
The testing is helping advance cost-effective and technically viable carbon management technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from fossil-based power plants and industrial sources, propelling them toward deployment. The center’s research is also helping push forward technologies for carbon conversion and direct air capture.
Located next to Alabama Power‘s Plant Gaston in Wilsonville, the NCCC is managed and operated by Alabama Power parent Southern Company for the U.S. Department of Energy.
“I applaud the center’s highly skilled employees for their unwavering commitment to building the future of energy through innovation,” said John Northington, Southern Company director of net-zero technologies and NCCC director.
“This momentous milestone is a testament to the highest level of collaboration with the Department of Energy, Southern Company, our sponsors and numerous technology developers. It’s an honor to be a part of such a long-standing and successful team effort to advance and demonstrate next-generation carbon management technologies,” Northington said.
The NCCC was created by the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management and National Energy Technology Laboratory as a neutral research and development facility. Since its inception in 2009, the center has accelerated the commercialization of advanced technologies to reduce GHG emissions.
Today, the NCCC continues to collaborate with third-party technology developers – including more than 50 government, industry, university and research organizations from seven countries. The goal: to offer innovative solutions to advance emerging technologies out of the laboratory and demonstrate them in real-world operating conditions.
Success breeds success
The overall scope of technology development at the NCCC has evolved from focusing primarily on post-combustion carbon capture for coal-fired power generation to testing carbon capture technologies for natural gas-fired power plants, as well as carbon conversion processes – turning captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable products such as chemicals, fuels, building materials and plastics – and direct air capture of CO2.
The NCCC provides real-life industrial operating conditions combined with the infrastructure to evaluate cutting-edge technologies for scale-up and future commercial adoption. Through the testing and development of more than 75 new technologies to date, the center has already reduced the projected cost of CO2 capture from fossil-based power generation by more than 40%.
The National Carbon Capture Center in Alabama is celebrating 150,000 hours of technology testing.
Research at the NCCC can concurrently evaluate numerous technologies at various levels of development, accelerating the pace of progress. The 150,000 hours of technology testing has helped refine a number of emerging technologies under development, including direct air capture and low-carbon concrete, as well as cryogenic processes and specialized, advanced solvents for carbon capture. Ten technologies evaluated at the NCCC have been scaled up or are ready to be demonstrated.
To learn more about the National Carbon Capture Center, visit nationalcarboncapturecenter.com.
