Abstract
This chapter illustrates that the increased carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is the dominating contributor to increased global warming. Carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere through combustion of fossil fuels in power plants, automotive engines, for industrial use and for heating purposes. The world is currently depending on the use of fossil fuels for its energy supply, and will continue to be so for a long time yet to come, due to the abundant sources of in particular bituminous coal and lignite. Small-scale renewable electricity production is available on the market today, but the cost of avoiding CO2 emissions through renewable is at present very high. It discusses oxyfuel recycle combustion is a highly interesting option for lignite-based power generation with CO2 capture, due to the possibility to use advanced steam technology, reduce the boiler size and cost and to design a zero-emission power plant. This technology, also poses engineering challenges in the areas of combustion and heat transfer, boiler design, boiler materials, energy-efficient oxygen production, and flue gas processing. The overall challenge is to design a robust plant that has a sufficiently low total cost of electricity so that it is interesting to build, but it must also have a sufficiently low variable cost of electricity so that it will be put in operation as a base load plant once it is built. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.