The Linde Group plans to build a pilot carbon-capture plant in Alabama with the support of $15 million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The facility, to be built in the town of Wilsonville near Birmingham, is being designed to test novel CO2 scrubbing solutions to reduce the energy consumption and costs of advanced carbon capture and separation systems for coal-fired power plants. The plant is expected to be operational by early 2014.

“Advanced CO2 capture for power plants is a critical element in achieving global greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,” said Andreas Opfermann, head of Linde’s clean energy and innovation management unit. “The DOE award will … help strengthen Linde’s position in this future-oriented sector in the US.”

The pilot plant will be designed to capture at least 90 percent of the CO2 generated at an increase in the cost of electricity of no more than 35 percent. This would represent a significant improvement over existing technologies that can add as much as 80 percent to the cost of electricity.

The test facility will build on Linde’s experience from a comparable project in Niederaussem, Germany, where the company has been testing carbon dioxide scrubbing solvents with electricity supplier RWE and chemicals company BASF since 2009.

• Pull CO2 straight from the air? Sure … for a $10/gallon gas tax
• Unique crystal could hold key to better carbon capture
• How to boost oceans’ carbon storage? Add more whale poop
• Plankton blooms devour carbon in dust storm aftermath
• Goal: Make algae-based carbon capture viable
• Proposal aims to make UK ‘clean coal’ leader
• Goal: carbon capture via amino-acid salts
• Energy firms chafe at UK’s carbon capture plans
• Siemens aids Norwegian utility with carbon capture
• 2009 ‘pivotal year’ for carbon sequestration