Carbon Capture and Storage

• 05 Jan 2022

It involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes, such as steel and cement production, or from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation

3 Step Process

• Capture: The CO2 is separated from other gases produced in industrial processes, such as those at coal and natural-gas-fired power generation plants or steel or cement factories.
• Transport: The CO2 is then compressed and transported via pipelines, road transport or ships to a site for storage.
• Storage: finally, the CO2 is injected into rock formations deep underground for permanent storage.

Does it help in reducing global warming?

• If done on the scale required, it would definitely help reduce global warming.
• In 2019 (the pre-pandemic year), the world emitted 36.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
• Today, CCS projects are negligible in comparison with the emissions.

Where are carbon emissions stored in CCS?

• Possible storage sites for carbon emissions include saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas reservoirs.
• These typically need to be 1km or more under the ground. As an example, a storage site for the proposed Zero Carbon Humber project in the UK is a saline aquifer named ‘Endurance’, which is located in the southern North Sea, around 90km offshore.
• Endurance is approximately 1.6km below the seabed and has the potential to store very large amounts of CO2.