Peabody invests in Calera Corp.

Peabody Energy has reached an agreement to purchase a US$15 million equity interest in Calera Corp., which has proprietary technology that converts CO₂ into green building materials. Every ton of Calera building material is expected to store as much as a half a ton of CO₂.

The technology captures CO₂ emissions from coal- or gas-fired power plants, cement plants and refineries, and converts it into solid carbonates that can be used as building materials in the form of aggregates or other cement-type materials. Because Calera's process removes minerals and other constituents from water, it also acts as a freshening system to produce fresh water, which can benefit areas of the world that need clean water.

Calera recently completed a demonstration project near Moss Landing, California, which used the emissions stream from a natural gas-fired power plant. The Calera technology mixes CO₂ with water from a variety of sources, causing the minerals to bond and release as synthetic limestone.

Peabody's other clean coal initiatives include serving as the only non-Chinese equity partner in China's GreenGen power project, a founding member of the US FutureGen Alliance, and a founding partner of Australia's COAL21 low-carbon project.

The company also is a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, the US-China Energy Cooperation Program, the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization, the National Carbon Capture and Storage Center, and others.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/29032010/peabody_invests_in_calera_corp/