If you had to describe the perfect nightmare for solar- and wind-power enthusiasts, a fossil-fuel-burning power plant that cuts its carbon emissions and helps produce more oil would probably be it.
And a new partnership announced Tuesday promises exactly that. General Electric is marrying its natural gas-fired turbines with carbon-capture technology provided by Norway’s Sargas. They claim this can generate electricity with relatively high 50% efficiency even after capturing and compressing the carbon-dioxide emission.
The captured carbon dioxide can then be sold for injection into old oil fields to boost output. Such “enhanced oil recovery” is projected by the Department of Energy to account for 11% of U.S. oil output between 2010 and 2035. Selling the carbon dioxide helps reduce the electricity generator’s overall costs for the equipment.
Carbon capture has tended to focus on coal-fired plants. But GE and Sargas are trying a different tack, in part because shale development has boosted U.S. gas reserves and reduced prices. For a renewable-energy industry struggling to compete on cost, this is one more threat from the shale-gas boom.