(U.S. Department of Energy: Washington) -- The recent successful commissioning of an Alabama-based test facility is another step forward in research that will speed deployment of innovative post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture technologies for coal-based power plants, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Technologies tested at the Post-Combustion Carbon Capture Center (or PC4) are an important component of carbon capture and storage, whose commercial deployment is considered by many experts as essential for helping to reduce human-generated CO₂ emissions that contribute to potential climate change.

The PC4 facility is part of the larger Natural Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), a testing and evaluation center established by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009 and operated and managed by Southern Company. The NCCC works collaboratively with technology developers worldwide to test and evaluate both pre- and post-combustion carbon capture technologies under realistic conditions, accelerating development of cost-effective CO₂ capture technologies and ensuring continued use of coal for power generation.

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