#Carbon Capture and Storage

[hope-for-the-planet]

“When completed, these projects will have the capacity to capture a combined 244 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. That figure is well short of the nearly 1,300 million metric tons of CO2 that need to be locked away annually by 2030 to put the world on a path to net-zero emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. But analysts expect that CCS will continue its rapid growth as countries ramp up investments in the technology. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which boosts tax incentives for carbon capture, could multiply U.S. deployment 13-fold, according to the Global CCS Institute.”

While we should not rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) to remove the need to drastically cut emissions, this kind of technology is extremely useful for important products that we can’t currently produce at scale without releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide (for example, cement). CCS would make it possible to decarbonize those products by capturing the carbon dioxide as it is produced--and buys us time to figure out how to do things like create carbon-free cement at a large scale.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times Op-Ed:

The technology called carbon capture and storage is aptly named. It is supposed to capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources and pump them deep underground. It was a big winner in the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last week and signed into law by President Biden on Tuesday.

What the technology, known as C.C.S., also does is allow for the continued production of oil and natural gas at a time when the world should be ending its dependence on fossil fuels.

The Inflation Reduction Act does more to cut fossil fuel use and fight climate change than any previous legislation by expanding renewable energy, electric cars, heat pumps and more. But the law also contains a counterproductive waste of money, backed by the fossil fuel industry, to subsidize C.C.S.

Fifteen years ago, before the cost of renewable energy plummeted, carbon capture seemed like a good idea. We should know: When we began a start-up 14 years ago — the first privately funded company to make use of C.C.S. in the United States — the idea was that the technology could compete as a way to produce carbon-free electricity by capturing the carbon dioxide emissions emitted from power plants and burying them. But now it’s clear that we were wrong, and that every dollar invested in renewable energy — instead of C.C.S. power — will eliminate far more carbon emissions.

Even so, this technology has broad political support, including from Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, an ally of the coal industry, because it enables the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels while also preventing the resulting carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Industry campaigns such as “Clean Coal” have also promoted the technology as something that could ramp up quickly to bridge the gap to the deployment of large-scale renewable energy. But by promoting C.C.S., the fossil fuel industry is slowing the transition away from fossil fuels.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, facilities using this technology will be eligible for generous tax credits provided they break ground by the end of 2032 — an extension of the current deadline of 2025. Those benefits come on top of $12 billion in government investments in C.C.S., as well as in technology that would pull carbon dioxide directly from the air, which were included in the infrastructure bill signed by President Biden last fall.

Where C.C.S. has been most widely used in the United States and elsewhere, however, is in the production of oil and natural gas. Here’s how: Natural gas processing facilities separate carbon dioxide from methane to purify the methane for sale. These facilities then sometimes pipe the “captured” carbon dioxide to what are known as enhanced oil recovery projects, where it is injected into oil fields to extract additional oil that would otherwise be trapped underground.

Of the 12 commercial C.C.S. projects in operation in 2021, more than 90 percent were engaged in enhanced oil recovery, using carbon dioxide emitted from natural gas processing facilities or from fertilizer, hydrogen or ethanol plants, according to an industry report. That is why we consider these ventures oil or natural gas projects, or both, masquerading as climate change solutions.

The projects are responsible for most of the carbon dioxide now sequestered underground in the United States. Four projects that do both enhanced oil recovery and natural gas processing account for two-thirds to three-quarters of all estimated carbon sequestered in the United States, with two plants storing the most. But the net effect is hardly climate friendly. This process produces more natural gas and oil, increases carbon dioxide emissions and transfers carbon dioxide that was naturally locked away underground in one place to another one elsewhere.

[amnhnyc]

This week, Sandya Viswanathan, a producer with the Museum’s multimedia online and exhibition program Science Bulletins is heading to the North Sea to create a documentary film about a long-running experiment in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): a process where high-pressure carbon dioxide, a byproduct of energy production that contributes to global warming, is buried underground until it incorporates into the rock. The experiment, which began in 1996, is known as the Sleipner Project and operated by the energy company Statoil. So far, the Sleipner Project has injected 14 million tons of carbon dioxide into a well-studied reservoir of porous sandstone approximately 1,000 meters below the seabed. Using various methods to monitor the injection and concomitant underground spreading of the carbon dioxide, scientists are learning how this new technology could be used on a greater scale. We'll be sharing photos and dispatches from the trip over the next 7 days. See photos from Sandya's visit to the Sleipner Project platform here.

[faqyeahgreen-blog-blog]

After giant blades for 10-megawatt wind turbines, Britain’s Energy Technologies Institute has now agreed to invest £ 23.5 million ($ 37.84 million) in a carbon-capture trial project to help meet the country’s emission reduction targets.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The extent to which carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology should be a part of climate planning is contentious, but advocates often point to Norway’s long-running CCS plants as proof that it can work.

Are Equinor’s North Sea gas field facilities the gold standard for successful CCS, or have they had issues too? Last year, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) published a report exploring that question.

Bertie spoke to the report’s author and IEEFA’s Strategic Energy Finance Advisor for Asia, Grant Hauber, to hear about his findings.

[testtubebubbles-blog]

The Environment

Greenhouses gases are gases that absorb infrared radiation and prevent it from leaving the atmosphere (this causes their bonds to vibrate) A gas' greenhouse effect is based on its abundance and "greenhouse factor" (ability to absorb infrared compared with CO2)

CO2 has the biggest greenhouse effect. Scientists are trying to find ways to store waste CO2, or ways to use it. Carbon Capture and Storage - or CCS - is ways in which they are storing CO2. 1) Storing it in natural fissures in the Earth's surface (like stuffing it under the floorboards!) 2) Storing it at the bottom of the ocean in huge CO2 lakes 3) Reacting with Metal Oxides to form carbonates, which are stable. 4) Storing in the ocean by reacting with carbonates in the water. Another way to reduce CO2's greenhouse effect is to use biofuels - unlike fossil fuels these do not release extra CO2 into the atmosphere. Biofuels include ethanol from sugar cane (see the ethanol post for more on that!) 

[chubbylemonscience-blog]

Carbon capture and storage

CCS, or sequestration, stores the carbon dioxide produced from power stations that would otherwise have been released into the air. It is then stored in underground porous rocks and old oil and gas fields.

At the moment, power stations burn methane from natural gas as fuel.

CH4(g) + 2O2(g) -----> CO2(g) + 2H2O(l)

In Scotland, they are developing decarbonised fuels to reduce carbon dioxide emission. 

CH4(g) + 2H2O(g) -----> CO2(g) + 4H2(g)

The hydrogen produced is used in generating electricity and the carbon dioxide stored away. This way, more energy is produced without having to produce as much CO2.

 Storage as carbonates

CO2 can also be stored as carbonates by reacting them with metal oxides. The carbonates would be stable and happens naturally.

CaO(s) + CO2(g) ------> CaCO3(s)

However, it takes a lot of energy to speed up this slow natural process so more research has to be carried out in order to make this technique more efficient.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

3.3: Carbon Capture and Storage with Prof Mike Bickle

In this ep, Christina talks to Dr. Mike Bickle, professor emeritus at the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Cambridge about carbon capture and storage: methods, dangers, what it would take to deploy at necessary scale. Join us!

Conquering climate change for our survival and that of much of the rest of the biosphere calls for more than attaining net zero emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. We also need to actively remove much of the 140 extra parts per million of carbon dioxide currently up there in the atmosphere thanks to our burning of fossil fuels and destruction of so much of Earth’s biosphere. Both…

[margheritagagliardi]

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process of sequestering CO2 underground. This infographic shows that, despite its potential positive effect on reducing global warming, CCS is not a magic bullet but a rather expensive and uncertain option...

This infographic is based on Carbon Tracker’s study “The $2 trillion stranded assets danger zone: How fossil fuel firms risk destroying investor returns”, published in November 2015.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Reuters:

Seagrasses play a large role in regulating ocean environments, storing more than twice as much carbon from planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) per square mile as forests do on land, according to a 2012 study in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Countries that hope to earn credit toward bringing down their CO2 emissions could tally their seagrasses and the carbon they store, a first step toward accrediting carbon offsets for eventual trading on an open market.

The grasses also curb the acidity of surrounding waters -- an especially important function as the ocean absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere and becomes more acidic.

But seagrasses provide some buffer from acidification, which can damage animals’ shells and disrupt fish behaviours. In one study published March 31 in the journal Global Change Biology, scientists at the University of California, Davis, found that seagrasses dotted along the California coast could reduce local acidity by up to 30% for extended periods.

The plants also help clean polluted water, support fisheries, protect coasts from erosion, and trap micro-plastics, said the study’s lead author Aurora Ricart.

“What is even cooler is that these habitats are present everywhere,” she said.

[amnhnyc]

These canisters, designed to withstand extremely high pressure, are used to test Carbon Capture and Storage. Brined sandstone plugs are placed inside and then pumped with CO2 to see how they fare. Scientists monitor the stones for weeks or even months to understand the long-term behavior during storage.

See more photos from our Science Bulletins team from their trip to the Steinmann Institute for Geology, Minerology, and Petrology at the University of Bonn here. 

Photo courtesy of S. Viswanathan

[faqyeahgreen-blog-blog]

Chemists from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois created a carbon capture and storage material which is made of sugars, salt and a little bit of alcohol - organic compounds that produce less emissions.

[anik211]

Modern Carbon Sink Technologies & Its Pros & Cons

Carbon sink technologies are techniques and strategies used to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store them in a way that prevents them from contributing to climate change. Please read to know more.

Carbon sink technologies are techniques and strategies used to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store them in a way that prevents them from contributing to climate change. These technologies are an important tool in mitigating climate change by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. These…

[edouardstenger]

Book review: Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker

Book review: Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker

Enlightenment Now is Steven Pinker’s latest book. Pinker was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2004 and his books are regularly featured in the best-selling lists.  (more…)

[cleargsica-blog]

Carbon capture and storage would be a possibility for nations that have critical wellsprings of CO2, reasonable for catch, that have entry to capacity locales and involvement with oil or gas operations, and that need to fulfill their advancement desires in a carbon-obliged environment. Reports demonstrate that there are numerous potential hindrances that could repress organization in creating nations, even of advances that are experienced in industrialized nations.

[newsdock]

Climate draft puts temperature limit out of reach: scientists

By Nina Chestney and Alister Doyle PARIS (Reuters) - A deal to slow climate change being thrashed out in Paris fails to map out steep enough cuts in carbon dioxide emissions to limit global warming to the target of at least "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), scientists said on Friday. Negotiations on the draft agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for warming the planet and disrupting the climate, were extended by a day on Friday to Saturday to try to overcome stubborn divisions among the 195 countries taking part. The draft text, released on Thursday and subject to revision, also proposes that emissions peak "as soon as possible", with rapid cuts thereafter towards achieving "greenhouse gas emissions neutrality in the second half of the century". http://dlvr.it/Czck2G