The director of the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research says carbon capture technologies could help stabilize coal mining employment in the Commonwealth. Center officials last week received a federal grant of nearly a million dollars.
Center for Applied Energy Research Director Rodney Andrews says the $994,000 will go toward the feasibility portion of a $50 million project. He says the technology involves post combustion carbon capture. Andrews says it could result in a more active mining industry in time. “So it could open up some opportunities for mines to reopen in eastern Kentucky where plants may have been turned down or shut off. They could then be used again, so it could have a positive impact on employment,” said Andrews
Andrews says the current schedule has the new carbon capture technology ready for use in a coal fired power plant within the next five years.
