* Author: Elías Rodríguez Martín *
My name is Elías Rodríguez and I’m in charge of the Chemistry and Environment area in Iberdrola’s Thermal Generation division. As you may well imagine, most of my work revolves around CO2, both reducing the amount produced and using it as a raw material in other processes.
We are all aware of the consequences of CO2 emissions from watching the news, because according to scientific evidence, an excess amount of this gas in the atmosphere triggers what is known as the greenhouse gas effect, which has a negative impact on the planet. However, there is a positive side even to CO2, although very few people know about it. That’s why I decided to talk to you all about it.
The fact is that the best way to prevent climate change would be to generate less of this gas, either by increasing the use of clean technologies, such as renewables, or by ensuring more rational energy consumption and more efficiency processes. However, a significant improvement in this regard will not avoid a certain amount of CO2 being generated and therefore it is of the utmost importance to go on researching what can be done with it.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends that this gas should be captured and stored, but the reality is that these processes are still at the fledgling stage and that as well as the technological challenges to be overcome, there are also problems caused by the lack of maturity in the processes, i.e. non-competitive costs. So what can be done with CO2? Exploring the possibilities of using it as a raw material is opening up excellent prospects for the future.
Many of you would probably be surprised at how much of a role CO2 already plays in your lives. It’s used in mineral waters, in drinks (beer and Coca Cola, for example), to keep food fresh in modified atmosphere packaging (ready-to-eat vegetables), for medicinal purposes, in electronics, in laundry products, in caffeine extraction, etc.
There are several projects underway focusing on the development of new sustainable uses for CO2 in industry. One is CENIT SOST-CO2, a public-private initiative for which almost 50% of funding is being provided by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI). Iberdrola is the only participant from the electricity sector in this project and its contribution is the 2nd highest in terms of budget allocation. Our goals in this project were initially to use this material from the combustion gases produced by our power plants to treat cooling waters at thermal facilities, for carbonic fertilisation in greenhouses and to control the zebra mussel population, a problem that is affecting efficiency levels at a huge number of power plants.
However, the scope of the CENIT SOST-CO2 project was much broader than the above, involving all kinds of industrial settings, from new materials to water treatment and the foodstuffs sector. This collaboration has produced results with a high scientific impact and with clear possibilities for large-scale industrial application. This initiative has also led to the creation of over 80 new jobs in research, the development of 25 new products and 9 new patents, as well as several associated publications and doctoral theses.
As you can see, the scientific community is extensively promoting sustainable use of this gas, and Iberdrola is not going to lag behind. In the Thermal Generation division, we are using it at our power plants insofar as possible to replace inorganic acids such as sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. We are also taking part in new projects aimed at reducing the impact of the CO2 that is inevitably produced by combustion gases.
We also have the opportunity to optimise energy uses and find sustainable applications for CO2 that can complement carbon capture and storage processes. The road ahead is a long one, but the ultimate goal is well worth our efforts: to contribute more than a grain of sand to controlling the greenhouse effect and climate change. If we all work together, we can achieve this.
