Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an innovative technology for collecting, sequestering, and storing carbon dioxide from large point sources like power plants, refineries, and industrial facilities – as well as extracting existing CO2 from the atmosphere.
CO2 can then be safely injected into deep underground rock formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers for permanent storage.
Soil
Earth’s soil is home to an estimated 2,500 gigatons of organic carbon–three times more than found in all living things combined and quadruple what exists in its atmosphere. Yet its ability to store carbon has been significantly compromised by human activities like land use and farming practices that inhibit its sequestration potential.
Good news is that natural and working lands can improve their ability to capture and store carbon by eliminating or reducing invasive species, improving plant health and using soil amendments. New programs enable farmers to monetize captured carbon for financial benefits associated with climate solutions.
The California Climate Hub and Working Lands Innovation Center are currently conducting experiments to test the carbon sequestration potential of compost, pulverized rock, and biochar on croplands and rangelands. We also are developing resources that will aid technical assistance communities when providing advice to growers on carbon farming options as well as climate-smart agriculture strategies; including developing fact sheets focused on soil.
Trees
Trees have long been part of our culture and ecosystem health worldwide. Renowned for their majestic beauty, longevity, and practical applications in wood products such as furniture or building construction materials; trees provide oxygen production through photosynthesis while mitigating climate changes and protecting soil conservation efforts.
Trees also play an invaluable role in carbon capture and storage both above and below ground, through their extensive root networks which hold soil together, help prevent erosion after storms, recharge ground water supplies, prevent flooding and replenish ground water supplies; their leaves make excellent compost that enriches the soil further.
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) utilizes trees’ ability to store carbon as the foundation for an innovative clean energy technology called bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). BECCS can provide both high-temperature heat for industrial processes as well as fuels compatible with existing engines, and is essential in helping reach net zero emissions goals in 2050 Scenario scenarios. Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology must also be employed safely extract CO2 from ambient air for long-term storage purposes.
Air
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an energy technology that captures carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and industrial processes, then stores it permanently underground geologic formations. CCS connects our current fossil-fueled landscape to one based on renewable energies as we transition – helping slow climate change as we transition.
Current leading DAC technologies separate CO2 from air through chemical reactions involving liquid solvents or solid sorbents that selectively bind carbon while still permitting other elements of air to pass through. After separation, CO2 can then be further isolated through various steps including cooling it down so it can be transported more easily.
Once captured, CO2 is transported via pipeline or ship to its storage site for use in products from concrete aggregate to carbon fiber manufacturing – though typically this does not generate sufficient revenue to cover its capture costs.
Saline formations
Saline formations are geological traps found across both onshore and offshore sedimentary basins, typically consisting of porous rocks saturated with salty brine water – they store CO2 via solubility, mineral, structural and residual mechanisms and may be found near an overlying confining zone.
As supercritical CO2 is injected into a storage formation, it displaces reservoir fluids and migrates upward due to density differences and laterally due to viscous forces. Once at the top of the formation, however, upward migration is stopped by ultra-low permeable seals while further lateral migration is prevented by sealing faults or boundaries.
The Sleipner project in Norway was the pioneering large-scale commercial carbon dioxide injection project and proved that saline formations can provide permanent CO2 storage. Since then, several other projects have followed. A key challenge has been creating an efficient criteria-driven workflow for screening, ranking and characterizing potential storage sites for long-term CO2 storage.