Is carbon capture and sequestration viable?

Daniel Christopher Jones

Carbon capture and sequestration is a highly controversial topic.

Some people see it as absolutely necessary if we are to meet our ambitious emissions targets - the do-or-die challenge for the traditional energy sector deriving from fossil fuels, as well as other major emitting industries.

Others see it as a pie in the sky solution that merely serves to hide the problem rather than eradicate it completely.

Carbon capture and sequestration uses various techniques to scrub and capture CO2 from generation plant fuel gasses, and then pipes the CO2 to an underground "storage area" or ships it for deep ocean storage. The process is costly, but it has proven successful in drastically reducing carbon emissions from energy plants.

Emissions and energy use are highly correlated

As the climate change issue infiltrates more and more government policies across the globe, businesses are fast realising that carbon capture and sequestration is a solution they can no longer ignore, and are becoming increasingly committed towards developing carbon capture and sequestration technology.

There are already over 30 carbon capture demonstration projects in the pipeline across the globe.

In the US, 98 percent of carbon dioxide is emitted as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels; consequently, carbon dioxide emissions and energy use are highly correlated.

Lack of funding

The main stumbling block to carbon capture and sequestration has been funding. Projects can exceed $1 billion - an investment few utilities can afford, especially when the technology is not fully proven. But the EU, the US, and Canada have begun allocating funds to further the development of this relatively new technology.

Obama has identified $3.5 billion in stimulus funding for carbon capture and Secretary Chu has restarted the FutureGen Alliance project.

Environmentalists have voiced major concerns over the technology. As well as additional energy being required for carbon capture - meaning substantially more fuel has to be used - there is also the possibility of CO2 leakage. In 1986, a large leakage of naturally sequestered carbon dioxide rose from Lake Nyos in Cameroon and asphyxiated 1,700 people. While the carbon had been sequestered naturally, some point to the event as evidence for the potentially catastrophic effects of sequestering carbon.

But experts claim this is an isolated incident, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: "The prospect for CO2 sequestration is excellent...based on 30 years of injection experience and the ability of the earth's crust to trap CO2."

Plant emissions not sustainable

Despite environmental concerns surrounding carbon capture, the fact remains that unfettered CO2 plant emissions are not sustainable. Based upon the success of StatOil's Steiner Westfield, and of the Alstom/AEP Mountaineer Project, carbon capture technology is viable. And before we reach the point when renewable energy production can sufficiently address the climate change issue by itself, the technology will be essential to helping the US meet its carbon-cutting goals.