Carbon capture and storage: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}

 

 

American oil and gas companies developed the processes involved in CCS in the mid 20th century. Originally, these technologies served to purify natural gas and to facilitate oil production. Subsequently, CCS was discussed as a strategy to reduce [[greenhouse gas emissions]].<ref name=":18">{{cite web |editor-last1=Metz|editor-first1=Bert|editor-last2=Davidson|editor-first2=Ogunlade|editor-last3=De Conink|editor-first3=Heleen|editor-last4=Loos|editor-first4=Manuela|editor-last5=Meyer|editor-first5=Leo|date=March 2018 |title=IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/srccs_wholereport.pdf |access-date=16 August 2023 |publisher= Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-7991-9_37 |chapter=Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions with CO2 Capture and Geological Storage |title=Handbook of Climate Change Mitigation |date=2012 |last1=Ketzer |first1=J. Marcelo |last2=Iglesias |first2=Rodrigo S. |last3=Einloft |first3=Sandra |pages=1405–1440 |isbn=978-1-4419-7990-2 }}</ref> Most announced CCS projects have not materialized. As of 2023, 40 commercial CCS facilities are operational and collectively capture about one thousdandth of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. CCS facilities typically require capital investments of up to several billion dollars, and CCS also increases operating costs.<ref name=":22" /> Power plants with CCS are expected to require around 15-25% more energy to operate,<ref name=":23" /> thus they typically burn additional fossil fuel and increase the pollution from extracting and transporting fuel. Almost all CCS projects operating today have benefited from government financial support, usually in the form of grants.<ref name=":16" />{{Rp|page=|pages=156-160}}

Storing CO₂ involves the injection of captured CO₂ into a deep underground geological reservoir of porous rock overlaid by an impermeable layer of rocks, which seals the reservoir and prevents the upward migration of CO₂ and escape into the atmosphere.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=CO2 Capture and Utilisation - Energy System |url=https://www.iea.org/energy-system/carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage/co2-capture-and-utilisation |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=IEA |language=en-GB}}[[File:CC-BY_icon.svg|50x50px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]</ref>{{Rp|page=112}} The gas is usually compressed first into a [[supercritical fluid]]. When the compressed CO₂ is injected into a reservoir, it flows through it, filling the pore space. The reservoir must be at depths greater than 800 metres to retain the CO₂ in a dense liquid state.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=112}}

 

 

 

Various other types of reservoirs for storing captured CO₂ are being researched or piloted as of 2021: CO₂ could be injected into coal beds for [[enhanced coal bed methane recovery]].<ref name=":07">{{Cite journal |last1=Dziejarski |first1=Bartosz |last2=Krzyżyńska |first2=Renata |last3=Andersson |first3=Klas |date=June 2023 |title=Current status of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies in the global economy: A survey of technical assessment |journal=Fuel |volume=342 |pages=127776 |doi=10.1016/j.fuel.2023.127776 |bibcode=2023Fuel..34227776D |issn=0016-2361 |doi-access=free }}[[File:CC-BY_icon.svg|50x50px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]</ref> ''Ex-situ mineral carbonation'' involves reacting CO₂ with [[Tailings|mine tailings]] or alkaline industrial waste to form stable minerals such as [[calcium carbonate]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Snæbjörnsdóttir |first1=Sandra Ó |last2=Sigfússon |first2=Bergur |last3=Marieni |first3=Chiara |last4=Goldberg |first4=David |last5=Gislason |first5=Sigurður R. |last6=Oelkers |first6=Eric H. |date=February 2020 |title=Carbon dioxide storage through mineral carbonation |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-019-0011-8 |journal=Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=90–102 |doi=10.1038/s43017-019-0011-8 |bibcode=2020NRvEE...1...90S |issn=2662-138X |access-date=2024-06-21}}</ref> ''In-situ mineral carbonation'' involves injecting CO₂ and water into underground formations that are rich in highly-reactive rocks such as [[basalt]]. There, the CO₂ may react with the rock to form stable carbonate minerals relatively quickly.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Kyuhyun |last2=Kim |first2=Donghyun |last3=Na |first3=Yoonsu |last4=Song |first4=Youngsoo |last5=Wang |first5=Jihoon |date=December 2023 |title=A review of carbon mineralization mechanism during geological CO2 storage |journal=Heliyon |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=e23135 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23135 |doi-access=free |issn=2405-8440 |pmc=10750052 |pmid=38149201}}</ref> Once the mineral carbonation process is complete, there is no risk of CO₂ leakage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Making Minerals-How Growing Rocks Can Help Reduce Carbon Emissions |url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/making-minerals-how-growing-rocks-can-help-reduce-carbon-emissions |access-date=31 October 2021 |website=www.usgs.gov}}</ref>