The Tennessee Valley Authority has announced they will work with TC Energy and invest $1.25 million to study carbon capture technology to reduce emissions at natural gas facilities, including in Muhlenberg County.
According to a news release, TVA is exploring a number of options to decarbonize its power grid and with this partnership, will conduct a feasibility student to figure out what the technical challenges, operational impacts and the costs of the capture technology.
Carbon capture works by sending the exhaust from natural gas power facilities to a CO2 scrubber adjacent to the plant, and then chemical reaction absorbs the CO2 before the exhaust is released into the air. From there, the CO2 is then pumped to another vessel and treated with heat that releases the CO2, which is then compressed and sent deep into the earth for safe storage.
TVA Innovation Research Vice President Dr. Joe Hoagland says, “TVA is a clean energy leader, and we are focused on reducing carbon emissions in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Exploring all available technologies to eliminate carbon will allow us to move faster as we work to be net-zero by 2050.”