Carbon capture and storage (CCS) refers to a suite of technologies which have been demonstrated to reduce CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial processes, with captured carbon dioxide stored permanently underground geologic formations.
CO2 injection into basaltic rock formations creates stable carbonates by reacting with minerals found there, increasing production in mature oil fields as well as creating additional stability for carbonated minerals that make up their makeup.
What is CCS?
CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) refers to an array of technologies designed to mitigate CO2 emissions from fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) power plants and industrial processes like cement and steel production. Carbon emissions produced from burning these fuels has contributed significantly to global warming over the years; humankind’s goal should be to limit this build-up to less than 2degC.
CCS plays an invaluable role in mitigating climate change from sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, such as heavy industry and energy-intensive transport, by capturing CO2 emissions at their source and permanently storing them underground. CCS can also be combined with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), which uses biomass plants as carbon sinks before burning for energy production.
Once captured, carbon dioxide (CO2) is transported to an appropriate storage site – usually an impermeable rock formation beneath the seabed – where it will remain safe from environmental influence for centuries to come. Once there, CO2 injection is carried out into this formation so as to safely store its content for thousands of years to come.
How does CCS work?
Carbon Capture and Storage technology takes carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants and other industrial processes and stores them underground permanently, helping address climate change by slowing global warming.
CO2 capture and storage involves extracting CO2 from exhaust emissions either post combustion (using chemical solvents or adsorption), or pre combustion in gasification and oxy-fuel processes; compressing it into liquid form, transporting via pipeline, ship or train and then injecting deep geologic formations with it for storage purposes.
Captured CO2 can also be utilized for enhanced oil recovery, wherein depleted oil wells are reactivated with CO2, freeing up more oil that would otherwise remain unreachable. When coupled with renewable energy sources, CCS represents an invaluable asset in the race towards net zero energy usage.
Governments can assist by incentivizing the adoption of renewable technology through carbon taxes or cap-and-trade systems, and creating regulatory or permitting frameworks that facilitate faster project development.
What are the benefits of CCS?
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an essential technology for combatting climate change, helping power plants reduce emissions while simultaneously capturing more carbon from bioenergy sources like biomass (BECCS). Together these technologies form an indispensable arsenal to achieve our climate goals.
Once captured, CO2 must be transported and stored underground in geological formations like used-up oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers for safekeeping, to prevent its return into the atmosphere and negate CCS benefits. This step is of critical importance as it prevents CO2 from returning into our atmosphere and undoing any benefits of CCS.
CCS not only reduces greenhouse gases but it can provide economic and energy security benefits as well. CCS offers a flexible low-carbon option that can provide reliable electricity at competitive rates in hard-to-electrify sectors like steel production or cement manufacturing.
What are the challenges of CCS?
CCS is an integral tool in combatting climate change, especially for industries that are difficult to decarbonise through other means, such as steel and cement production. CCS allows these sectors to reduce emissions produced from burning fossil fuels and their chemical processes while continuing operations without shutting down.
CO2 collected from power plants is transported to storage sites and injected underground rock formations similar to those used for oil and gas exploration (EOR). Since 1972, more than 50 commercial CCS projects have been deployed worldwide, storing more than 68 million tons of CO2.
But CCS should not be considered a panacea; its implementation requires significant expenditure and energy inputs and should only be seen as part of an array of measures to address global temperature increases – which includes fuel switching, energy efficiency improvements and technologies which enable negative emissions such as bioenergy with carbon capture or direct air capture.