Coal plants to scrub CO2

With European countries making the production of greenhouse gases more expensive, German utility RWE announced it is planning to develop a way to remove carbon dioxide from the emissions of coal-fired power plants.

Europe’s largest polluter, RWE claims it will spend more than $110 million on a new process that it expects to use commercially by 2020, according to Reuters. The German utility is reportedly being aided by chemicals firm BASF and gas producer Linde, which, respectively, will test the carbon-scrubbing process and supply the engineering and construction for the test plant in Niederaussen.

Together, the German companies say the goal is to remove 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from the pilot plant’s gases and bury it underground.