Carbon Capture and Storage
Carbon Capture and Storage is termed CCS for short, to which has recently been added CCSU, or Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation. There are many uses for CO2 and ideally such facilities should be placed adjacent to the gas producers.
There are several processes being used to extract carbon in the form of gaseous CO2. Although we often say, just carbon, solid carbon is, of course, not a problem and appears in many forms including diamonds.
Research is continuing on the extraction processes and gains in efficiency are being made. Gas networks are being created on the East & West Coast industrial estuaries and the gas is processed to be sent out to storage often under the North Sea, which also helps to extract the remaining oil in the wells, EOR – Enhanced Oil Recovery.
There are CCS installations throughout the developed world., so it is proven technology, despite the glib assertions in the media that it is not. It is an area where the UK once led, but Government indifference caused our leadership to stall. The Government is however interested once again, and progress could be rapid.
Direct Air Capture (DAC) included in this section of the website is another removal process from the different route of directly out of the atmosphere rather than as adjunct to a fossil fuel burning process.
Many believe that we will not achieve our climate change commitments without both nuclear and the burning of fossil fuels and carbon capture. So, CCSU plants should be mandated to be integral to any new CO2 producing process and retrofitted to existing large emitters. Such removal processes do require energy and this cost must be considered in investment proposals as the cost of mitigating climate change.