The Bellingham natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant in south central Massachusetts demonstrated the commercial viability of carbon capture using Fluor’s Econamine FG PlusSM™. The 40 MW slipstream capture facility operated from 1991 to 2005 and captured 85-95% of CO2 that would have otherwise been emitted. The figure below shows the power plant and the capture system.

The CO2 captured from this facility was purified and sold to the food industry. Recently, there have been positive, new developments. Several advanced solvent technologies—including those produced by Shell-Cansolv, Aker Solutions, Carbon Capture Solutions India, and Alstom—have been validated for post combustion capture on natural gas flue gas at the large pilot scale at the Test Centre Mongstad (TCM) facility in Norway. The TCM facility hosts a 13MW solvent system and a 15MW chilled ammonia capture facility. These facilities are supplied flue gas from a NGCC power plant and a catalytic cracker from a neighboring refinery.
Generally, these first-generation capture technologies have proven that carbon capture from natural gas power plants is an available technology and can be scaled for commercial application. To date, however, the costs to do so would likely require significant financial incentives, or revenue raised through sale of the CO2 for industrial uses. With natural gas plants emitting 50% less than their coal counterparts, plus an 85%-95% carbon capture, it is surely a more viable option than renewables. We could locate the gas plants where coal plants have been removed and use the same tower/cable infrastructure already in place. There would be a number of people, including some high profile politicians, who have made substantial investment in renewables, might not be so enthusiastic.

Summary
Natural gas use is experiencing strong growth, which is expected to continue. CCUS for gas-fired power generation is critical in order to meet both U.S. and global efforts to use this fuel and be environmentally sustainable, as well as
providing significant employment and economic benefits across a range of economic sectors. First-generation technologies are already available, but more effort and R&D is required to advance into full commercial application. CCUS for natural gas systems will be necessary in the future to ensure it is readily available for power.