Opportunities and Challenges for Carbon Capture and Sequestration

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology (IJRASET), 2021

Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) is the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2) that is emitted to the atmosphere as a result of combustion process. Presently majority of efforts focus on the removal of carbon dioxide directly from industrial plants and thereby storing it in geological reservoirs. The principle is to achieve a carbon neutral budget if not carbon negative, and thereby mitigate global climate change. Currently, fossil fuels are the predominant source of the global energy generation and the trend will continue for the rest of the century. Fossil fuels supply over 63% of all primary energy; the rest is contributed by nuclear, hydroelectricity and renewable energy. Although research and investments are being targeted to increase the percentage of renewable energy and foster conservation and efficiency improvements of fossil-fuel usage, development of CCS technology is the most important tool likely to play a pivotal role in addressing this crisis.

This book focuses on issues related to a suite of technologies known as “Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS),” –which can be used to capture and store underground large amounts of industrial CO2 emissions. We address how CCS should work, as well as where, why, and how these CCS technologies should be deployed, emphasizing the gaps to be filled in terms of research and development, technology, regulation, economics, and public acceptance. The book is divided into three parts. The first part helps clarify the global context in which Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions can be analyzed, highlights the importance of fossil-fuel-producing countries in positively driving clean fossil-fuel usage, and discusses the applicability of this technology on a global and regional level in a timely yet responsible manner. The second part provides a technical description of the elements of the CCS chain, with an emphasis on new technologies and the potential capabilities of future facilities. The third part provides a review of the economic, regulatory, social, and environmental aspects associated with CCS development and deployment on a global scale, and offers a pragmatic way forward. In conclusion, we provide recommendations and guidelines for sustainable/responsible CCS scale-up as a way to address prevailing global energy, environment, and climate concerns.

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 2012

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) entails separating carbon dioxide from coal-, biomass-or gas-fired power plants or other large industrial sources, transporting the carbon dioxide by pipeline, injecting it deep underground, and storing it indefinitely in geological reservoirs including depleted oil and gas fields, and saline aquifers. CCS is envisioned to reduce carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions to the atmosphere when applied to large facilities that use fossil fuels. Applied to biomass, it may also lower CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere while supplying energy. The publication of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2005) Special Report on CCS (SRCCS) raised the profile of CCS, particularly among the expert community dealing with international climate policy (Meadowcroft and Langhelle 2009). The expert community now commonly sees CCS as a major option for reducing global emissions of CO 2. The technology plays a major role in long-term scenarios where there is significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (Clarke et al. 2009; IEA 2010a). For CCS to play such a major role, the separation, transport and storage would have to handle large volumes of CO 2 , and involve huge investments in facilities and infrastructure. The SRCCS conveyed some key insights. First, it clearly indicated that in principle, CCS is technically feasible. It also found that subsurface endowments of geological storage are probably massive, but regionally distributed and still highly uncertain.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2015

According to the recent IPCC reports, the effects from anthropogenic climate change effects are becoming more serious and actions more urgent. The global mean concentration of CO 2 , the most important Greenhouse Gas (GHG), in the atmosphere is now close to 400 ppm. The most comprehensive research efforts concerning safe levels propose that we should strive to keep the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 below 350 ppm. This is also a more transparent global goal than using effects in the components of the climate system. Most scenarios show that the combustion of fossil fuels will increase in the future, while the development of renewables is still too marginal to stop this growth. The possibility that countries will leave fossil resources underground does not seem realistic. The only options in the short run to halt emissions of CO 2 are the large-scale application of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in combination with increased energy efficiency. In the long run, we have to radically transform our societal metabolism towards greater resource efficiency, where renewables can play a more important role. The main barriers for implementation of CCS on a large scale are not technical, but economic and social. As long as the costs for emitting CO 2 are much lower than implementing CCS technology, there will not be a market-driven development of CCS. A major challenge for CCS will be to achieve wide public acceptance, since this will also affect the future political attitude to it. This will require an open communication about safety aspects early in the planning phase, where it can be shown that safety issues can be handled, even in the event of major leaks of CO 2. To assume a low probability of accidents is not a feasible way forward in the communication process. The future concerning CO 2 emissions will be determined very much by actions of the biggest emitters. The developed countries have already emitted a large amount of CO 2 and must now take a step forward to show that they are willing to invest in CCS technology. At this stage, it is reasonable to expect developed countries to take a leading role in developing the CCS technology on a large-scale. It is highly probable that developing countries like China will follow this path in the near future, since they have a clear ambition to take a lead in climate change mitigation in the long run and to avoid blame for a deteriorating environment.

Journal of Petroleum Technology, 2017

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is designed to reduce atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The CCS process captures carbon dioxide (CO2) generated at large-scale industrial sources (power plants, refineries, gasification facilities, etc.) and transports it to an injection site to be permanently stored in the subsurface. With extensive research linking GHG concentrations in the atmosphere to observed changes in global temperature patterns, CCS technology could play an important role in policy efforts to limit the global average temperature rise. Even with the wealth of experience already in place within the oil and gas industry, the obstacles to advancing CCS to the forefront of GHG mitigation technologies remain significant. Large-scale CO2 injection projects remain primarily in the realm of commercial CO2-EOR (enhanced oil recovery) projects. The key challenges to enabling CCS include cost-effective capture and transport of industrial CO2, clear access to pore s...

Energy & Environmental Science, 2018

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is vital to climate change mitigation, and has application across the economy, in addition to facilitating atmospheric carbon dioxide removal resulting in emissions offsets and net negative emissions. This contribution reviews the state-of-the-art and identifies key challenges which must be overcome in order to pave the way for its large-scale deployment.

EPJ Web of Conferences, 2017

As the world transitions toward cleaner and more sustainable energy generation, Carbon Capture and Sequestration/Storage (CCS) plays an essential role in the portfolio of technologies to help reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The projected increase in population size and its resulting increase in global energy consumption, for both transportation and the electricity grid-the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, will continue to add to current CO2 emissions levels during this transition. Since eighty percent of today's global energy continues to be generated by fossil fuels, a shift to low-carbon energy sources will take many decades. In recent years, shifting to renewables and increasing energy efficiencies have taken more importance than deploying CCS. Together, this triad-renewables, energy efficiency, and CCS-represent a strong paradigm for achieving a carbonfree world. Additionally, the need to accelerate CCS in developing economies like China and India are of increasing concern since migration to renewables is unlikely to occur quickly in those countries. CCS of stationary sources, accounting for only 20% reduction in emissions, as well as increasing efficiency in current systems are needed for major reductions in emissions. A rising urgency for fifty to eighty percent reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 and one hundred percent reduction by 2100 makes CCS all that more critical in the transition to a cleaner-energy future globally.

Combating climate change by mitigation of release of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases has attracted worldwide attention towards research and policy formulations. One such approach is the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide, known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a large scale solution to climate change, consider to have significant potential on curbing CO2 emissions. Fossil fuels will continue to be our main energy source for decades to come, and CCS can contribute with as much as 55% of the emissions reductions needed to stabilize climate change at an average of +2oC. Industry is already exploring various CCS technologies. This paper will firstly discuss examples of various CO2 capture technologies currently in use and in development. It will also discuss various industrial sources and sequestration options. This paper also presents the technological advancement to CCS i.e. carbon recycling, which is the electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC), which aims to take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to formate salts and/or formic acid; both valu¬able chemicals used in a variety of industrial applications. CCS is, however, suffering from a lack of maturity in terms of frame conditions, technology, economy, infrastructure and common acceptance criteria. A key factor is development and implementation of a regulatory framework that allows a market and business to emerge, depending on financial incentives through various mitigation policies and mechanisms. The framework for CO2 storage should require an integrated risk management throughout the life cycle of a CCS project, i.e. from initial site selection, design and construction, operation including monitoring, reporting and verification, up to closure and post-closure requirements. The paper will address these uncertainties and risks more in depth. The viability of a carbon capture and sequestration industry will also be dependent upon the costs of capturing CO2 from industrial and natural sources. This raises the question: what are the potential costs of capturing industrial CO2? A source-to-sink analysis (Literature Survey) was done to estimate the total cost of capturing and transporting CO2 from a variety of industrial sources to potential sequestration sites. These include concentrated sources, such as ammonia and ethanol plants, as well as less-concentrated sources including power plants. The considered sequestration sites include value options such as enhanced oil and gas recovery projects, pressure maintenance in gas reservoirs, as well as sequestration in saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and other geologic media. This paper hence will provide estimates of CO2 pipeline transportation costs at various distances between sources and sinks. Finally, the paper will discuss the total estimated cost, inclusive of capture, compression, and transportation, at which the CO2 can be sold to operators of enhanced oil recovery projects or other industries which could utilize the CO2. This analysis concluded that CO2 can be captured and transported approximately 100 miles at costs ranging between $1 and $3.50 per thousand cubic feet.

Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, 2012

Climate change is happening and already manifested in a range of ways, including: global warming, rising sea levels, floods, heat‐waves, stronger and more frequent storms, and droughts. One of the major factors in climate change is anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion for energy generation and it is increasing throughout the world. Fossil fuel burning results in carbon emissions. On the basis of the most recent evidence, this article presents some new insights into the carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology, which can be an environmentally sustainable way to control carbon emissions. The article also focuses on various relevant facts and figures from the literature on CCS technology and explores various challenges that the technology may face in future. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2012

Frontiers in Energy Research, 2014