Sep. 19--A potential solution to the dilemma of reducing greenhouse gases will debut in Western Pennsylvania next week, with the goal of attracting attention from world leaders in town for the Group of 20 economic summit.

At Consol Energy Inc.'s Research and Development center in South Park on Tuesday, a process for capturing carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants is expected to receive $1 million from the state Department of Environmental Protection for further testing.

"Something like 80 percent of the energy used in this country is from fossil fuels," said Steven Winberg, Consol's vice president of research and development. "If we're going to restrain carbon emissions, then we have to do something with all that carbon dioxide."

The process couples a pressurized fluid bed combustion boiler from PFBC Environmental Energy Technology Inc., a Monessen-based company, with a carbon capture system created by Sweden-based Sargas Inc.

The boiler burns waste coal, which would otherwise have to be disposed of, to provide energy for power plants. The carbon capture system takes the carbon dioxide that results and stores it until it can be pumped underground, a process called sequestration.

Despite its environmental intentions, the process has not received a ringing endorsement from local environmental groups and Consol is preparing its security for possible protests during the G-20 summit.

"We're skeptical," said Joe Osborne, legal director for the Squirrel Hill-based Group Against Smog and Pollution, which does not plan to protest. "There's a lot of challenges that carbon capture and sequestration presents. We're not sure this is the best way to invest our money."

Tom Hoffman, Pittsburgh director of Clean Water Action, said the environmental group is not against developing the technology, but would rather the money be put toward weatherizing homes so they use less electricity and toward developing renewable energy technology, such as windmills and solar panels.

Henrik Fleischer, CEO of Sargas, said carbon capture and sequestration is the only feasible way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

"The world seems to have a consensus on reducing global warming," he said. "There's just no way to achieve that goal without carbon capture and sequestration from existing power plants, no matter how many windmills and solar panels you build."

Allison M. Heinrichs can be reached via e-mail or at 412-380-5607.

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