Radical Startup Invents the World’s First Zero-Emissions Fossil-Fuel Power Plant

[Megalith]

North Carolina startup NET Power has found a way to power the transition to a CO2-free future without parting ways with fossil fuels with its pioneering turbine technology. The system draws on the Allam cycle, a process for converting fossil fuels using a single turbine into mechanical power while capturing the resulting water and CO2.

The core of Allam’s solution is a new type of gas turbine. The job of a turbine is to convert heat energy into mechanical energy, which can then be turned into electricity. All turbines today use either steam or a mixture of hot gases to transfer energy from one form into another, but the process is inefficient. Allam’s system uses carbon dioxide to achieve heat transfer and gets much higher efficiencies as a result.

 

[RogueTadhg]

Clean Coal

 

[velusip]

There's always room for alternative tech, but the Allam cycle is so inefficient that only the most stubborn oil tycoons would invest here. And they WILL get their investors, lol.

 

[sfsuphysics]

There’s currently no financial incentive to cut emissions in most of the world.

And there it is, emissions are not good, and regardless of your stance to how harmful they may be they simply are not good (argue the effects elsewhere). But if it cost more money, they're not going to do shit about it. Same reason why most coastal cities dump their wastes into the oceans, sure some claim it's cleaner going out, but the fact is it's still waste.

 

[mord]

Read the artical. Lots of hand waving. The "new" technology is named after one of the partners in the venture. The other two are investors who dropped out of the stock market after it crashed. IE the WORST time to get out, unless you lost everything and it wasn't a choice.

I don't see how this could be any more efficient once it hits the point the system is in heat steady state.

Maybe it's easier to filter the carbon out, but is the added complexity of dealing with supercritical CO2 any cheaper than other carbon scrubbing systems or high containment methodes like fuel cells?

 

[whiz187]

In Marion County Oregon we have had an emission free incinerator for some time. Burns trash, makes heat and spins a turbine for generating electricity. It works but is expensive to maintain. It is the only one in the state.