Google’s bets on carbon capture power plants, which have a mixed record

Google He said Today it will invest in a natural gas-fired power plant in Illinois that aims to capture the majority of carbon emissions.

The 400-megawatt power plant will be built outside Decatur next to an ethanol plant operated by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), which already captures carbon dioxide.₂ of its operations. Google will buy most of the electricity to power its nearby data centers, while ADM will use some of the steam and electricity generated by the power plant. Low Carbon Infrastructure is developing the new project.

Google intends to capture “about 90%” of carbon dioxide₂ The company said that the power plant produces it.

The carbon dioxide from Google’s power plant will be injected into the same geological storage formations already used at ADM’s ethanol facility. The website is the company’s first long-term website₂ Well stocked in the US

Typically, about 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide₂ They are sent to the well every day. But injections there stopped in 2024 when brine, which stores carbon dioxide, dissolved it.₂ Deeper underground, they have been found to have migrated into “unauthorized areas,” according to the EPA. ADM said the leak was the result of corrosion in the monitoring well, E&E News reported I mentionedThey have since resumed injections.

While carbon capture and storage shows great promise in reducing carbon emissions from coal and natural gas power plants, it has a mixed record in this area.

A Recent study Of the 13 carbon capture and storage facilities that account for 55% of the total carbon captured, most appear to be falling short of expectations. ExxonMobil’s facility in Wyoming, which processes natural gas, captured 36% less than expected. Most similar to the Google project, a 115-megawatt power plant in Canada received only about 50% of what was promised.

Carbon capture and storage, when successful, can help mitigate pollution caused by burning natural gas for power generation, but it won’t do anything to address the methane leaks that occur throughout the natural gas supply chain. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, generating 84 times higher temperatures over 20 years than carbon dioxide.

As a result, leaks can significantly change carbon accounting. With leakage rates of just 2%, relentless burning of natural gas is holding it back On par with coal. Carbon capture will reduce this number, but it will not be able to eliminate global warming resulting from the extraction and transportation of natural gas.