Alstom participates in Frances two-year project in Carbon Capture and Storage

In thousands of power stations around the world, Alstoms environmentally efficient technology is already installed and already helping to create a cleaner environment now. To keep at the forefront of creating a cleaner environment, efforts are also being made to invest in the technology necessary for the future.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of these very important emerging technologies. Experts agree that CCS together with improved energy conversion efficiency is a near-term solution to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The technology is dedicated to the capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide, emitted by power generation. By means of storing the carbon dioxide far below the earths surface (in deep geological formations, deep oceans, or in the form of mineral carbonates), rather than emitting it into the atmosphere the results could be significant. Gaining public support is a critical first step.

A new two-year project, SOCECO2, initiated and sponsored by the French National Research agency (ANR), aims to investigate public acceptance concerning CCS. The French project will determine under which conditions this emerging technology could be implemented in France. It will provide the public and stakeholders with a clear and objective understanding of the project by scientifically assessing the long-term economic and technical potentials of CCS.

A consortium composed of industrial companies: Gaz de France, TOTAL and Alstom and Research Institutes: CIRED, CNRS, APESA, BRGM, IFP, AND INERIS, three of which (CNRS, APESA and CIRED) also integrate sociologists, has been set up to address this subject. The work will involve three main parts:

• Economic and environmental justification (of carbon capture, transport and storage by 2050);
• Social perception - (of carbon capture, transport and storage);
• Methodology of information and public opinion on the implementation - (of a carbon capture, transport and storage pilot).

Alstom participated in the opening meeting, which took place early January 2007, beginning with the agenda defining the projects main milestones and phases. As the project addresses the critical task of understanding the concerns of the many parties involved, and at the same time assessing the economic and technical potential of CCS, its progress will closely be followed. SOCECO2 is only one of many current CCS projects in which Alstom is actively involved.
Projects such as these are vital in helping find solutions to the extreme consequences of todays relentless climate change.