With climate change posing an urgent global threat, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is gaining attention as a potential tool to combat climate change. By capturing carbon dioxide and storing it safely, CCS offers cleaner energy sources with a promise of a more sustainable future.

What Does Carbon Capture Mean?

Carbon Capture and Storage is a method for reducing carbon dioxide emissions that involves capturing the carbon, transporting it, and storing it safely underground. By storing it underground, the CO2 isn't released into the atmosphere and can help to reduce climate change. 

How does Carbon Capture and Storage work?

Capturing the Carbon

Capturing the CO2 requires to first separate it from the other gases that have been produced. It is typically captured at industrial sites such as power plants but capturing from the atmosphere itself might also be possible. 

If the carbon is being collected from a power plant where fossil fuels are burnt, there is more than one opportunity to capture the CO2: 

• post-combustion

• pre-combustion

• oxyfuel combustion

Transport

Once the carbon has been collected, it is compressed and transported either through pipelines, by road transport, or overseas by ships to reach an appropriate site for storage. 

Storage

Now that it has arrived at the site, the carbon is injected into the rock deep underground for permanent storage, preventing it from entering the atmosphere. 

Where is Carbon Capture and Storage being used already?

Carbon Capture and Storage has been gaining traction in recent years, with 194 large-scale CCS operations and facilities reported globally in 2022. When comparing this to the 51 reported in 2019, we can see that this is clearly gaining popularity amongst industrial sites. 

The USA is leading in Carbon Capture with 80 sites reported. There are also 73 in Europe, with 27 reported to be in the UK, 21 in Asia, and 6 in the Middle East. These numbers are based on 2022 numbers, so it is highly likely that these figures have only continued to shoot up in the past 3 years. 

CO2 can also be used for greenhouse farming purposes. The controlled amount of CO2 injection into the greenhouse will help to improve the quality and growth of the plants within the greenhouse. 

High quality CO2 can also be utilised in the food industry. It can be used in the beverage production for carbonated drinks or draft beverages. It can also be utilised as dry ice for food preservation during transport and/or storage.

Pros and Cons of CCS

With every method of conserving energy and reducing climate change, there are always certain pros and cons to consider. 

The main appeal of carbon capture is how it reduces carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere. Excessive amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere result in severe damage to the world and contribute to global warming.

By burying the carbon essentially, we can reduce the amount of carbon released back into the atmosphere. This also allows for more jobs for those working in the industry.

This also affects the local population where the site and extraction points are located by bringing more business and industry to the area. CCS currently works with fossil fuels however, we can use it to work towards using other means of power, such as wind turbines and solar energy. 

Having said all this, Carbon Capture and Storage also has significant drawbacks that need to be factored in. CCS is relatively costly compared to alternatives, as it is still being researched and developed upon. For companies looking to cut costs or unable to afford this, it is simply not an option for them.

Whilst it can reduce the amount of carbon entering the atmosphere, that doesn’t mean that this method doesn’t come at an environmental cost.

The carbon can leak out from underground and affect the local environment and groundwater.

Pyrolysis as Alternative for Carbon Capture

While Carbon Capture does work, however, there are drawbacks to consider before committing to this method. 

Suppose your business is looking to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce the environmental impact, CCS is costly and there are alternatives available.

One alternative is replacing fossil fuel usage with a more environmentally friendly energy source such as syngas from biomass, which can be produced from pyrolysis.

At the same time, biochar can also be produced which can be utilised for carbon sequestration, another method to reduce the release of CO2 into the environment. 

Contact us today to find out more about how carbon capture can help your business.