Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) stands as a pivotal technology in the battle against climate change, aiming to mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from fossil fuel combustion. This intricate process involves capturing CO2 at its source, primarily from large stationary emitters like power plants and industrial facilities.
Current CCS methods typically employ liquid-based techniques to chemically extract CO2 from emissions before they are released into the atmosphere. While existing projects successfully store nearly 45 million tons of CO2 annually – equivalent to the emissions from 10 million cars – ongoing developments explore alternative capture processes beyond the conventional methods.
The captured CO2 undergoes compression, transforming it into a liquid-like state for transportation to storage sites, predominantly through pipelines. Although ship transport is more expensive, it is being considered in regions such as Europe and Japan. The storage involves pumping the CO2 more than 2,500 feet underground into geological formations, including depleted oil and gas reservoirs or formations containing non-potable, salty water.
The captured CO2 gas is then compressed so it becomes liquid-like and transported to a storage site, generally through a pipeline. Ship transport is more expensive than using pipelines, but it is being considered in both Europe and Japan. Once at the storage site, the CO2 is pumped more than 2,500 feet down wells into geological formations like used-up oil and gas reservoirs, as well as formations that contain unusable, salty water.
Often referred to as CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage), the "U" emphasizes the potential utilization of captured CO2. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), where CO2 is injected into active oil reservoirs to extract more oil, currently constitutes a significant application. Other potential uses include manufacturing chemicals, fuels, or even converting CO2 into valuable products like plastics, building materials, and household items. Companies and labs are working on turning CO2 into plastics, building materials like cement and concrete, fuels, futuristic materials like carbon fibers and graphene, and even household products like baking soda, bleach, antifreeze, inks and paints. Some of these products are already being sold, but none in very large amounts. This can then be the basis for making biofuels, fertilizers, or animal feed.
While large-scale CCS implementation primarily focuses on underground storage, the concept of "utilization" could create markets for captured CO2, making it economically viable for companies to invest in emission reduction. Utilization efforts are projected to utilize less than 10% of the captured CO2, emphasizing the need for cost-effective solutions.
Recent interest has emerged in employing CCS technologies for direct air capture (DAC) or bioenergy with CCS (BECCS). These approaches aim to remove CO2 from the atmosphere either through chemical processes or via biomass that absorbs CO2 through photosynthesis. Despite their potential for achieving negative emissions, DAC remains relatively expensive due to the lower concentration of CO2 in the air compared to industrial emissions.
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