What is the Need for Carbon Dioxide Storage and Capturing?

Global warming is a real issue that has led to a cautious situation unsettling several nations. To be honest, the earth is warming with glaciers liquefying to increase the sea levels. This catastrophe needs to be curbed and the foremost option is switching to renewable energy which creates less carbon dioxide (CO2); tagged responsible for global warming.

On a practical front, this would take decades for completely shifting the dependency level on renewable resources. In the meantime, we are still stuck with the usage of gas, coal and oil which produces higher amounts of CO2. Quite recently, scientists have discovered a way to prevent the CO2 from entering the atmosphere even though the burning of fossil fuels doesn’t take a backseat. This concept is called carbon capture and storage (CCS) and is gaining higher prominence in the energy technology sector.  

Introduction to Carbon Capture and Storage

If you see a power plant burning heaps of coal and discharging clouds of carbon dioxide, finding a solution is through a simple theory. You just need to catch the CO2 once it drifts upward through the pipe and direct it somewhere it cannot pose any significant threat, for example:, underground or into the ocean. The overall concept is termed as carbon capture and storage (CCS). You can simply call it as an artificial version to carbon sequestration that is followed by plants and trees during photosynthesis.

Going by its name, CCS covers two separate processes; namely, carbon capture and carbon storage. Let us try to understand these two setups for gaing better insight about CCS.

Carbon Capturing

Based on the concept of CCS, carbon capturing from a power plant can be achieved in three ways: before the fuel is charred (precombustion), after the fuel is charred (postcombustion), or by charring the fuel in the presence of additional oxygen and capturing all the gases (oxyfuel). The carbon dioxide market at present, is experiencing transformations which will surely impact the CCS process.

Carbon Storing

After the capturing process is accomplished, the next question is where to store the carbon dioxide. Stuffing the content in a tank and closing the lid can be seen as a practical option. As per scientists, the convenient option is to convert the carbon dioxide into liquid form and later pump it underground or deeper into the ocean where it can stay safe for at least a 1000 years!

The process of storing carbon dioxide beneath the surface of the Earth is called geo-sequestration. This option might not sound real or operational, but several oil companies regularly pump CO2 directly into underground rocks for helping them flush oil.