RWE, BASF, Linde Reduce Energy Needs to Capture Carbon-Dioxide Emissions

RWE AG, BASF SE and Linde AG said their method of capturing carbon-dioxide from power-station smokestacks uses 20 percent less energy than other technologies.

The three companies have tested chemical solvents in capturing CO2, a greenhouse gas blamed for climate change, at RWE’s Niederaussem power station near Cologne, Germany, according to a joint statement e-mailed today. The results pave the way for scaling up to large power plants, they said.

“By enhancing efficiency and accordingly reducing costs, we have created a critical success factor for carbon capture technology, which in our view is key to climate-compatible power generation from coal,” Johannes Heithoff, vice president of research and development at RWE Power, said in the statement.

So-called carbon capture and storage has been supported by European governments as a way of reducing emissions. The technology has yet to be proven for large-scale use. Electricity is required to capture the greenhouse gas.

RWE, BASF and Linde are working to prove capture of CO2 from entire power stations, the statement said. The CO2 can then be piped for storage underground or can be converted into products such as fertilizers, they said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Catherine Airlie in London at cairlie@bloomberg.net

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