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Carbon capture and storage
Collecting carbon dioxide from industrial emissions / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process in which a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial sources is separated, treated and transported to a long-term storage location.[2]: 2221 In CCS, the CO2 is captured from a large point source, such as a chemical plant, coal power plant, cement kiln, or bioenergy plant, and typically is stored in a suitable geological formation.
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CCS can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigate climate change.[3][4] For example, CCS retrofits for existing power plants can be one of the ways to limit emissions from the electricity sector and meet the Paris Agreement goals.[5]: 16 However, as of 2022, only about one thousandth of global CO2 emissions are captured by CCS, and most of those CCS projects are for natural-gas processing.[6]: 32 CCS projects generally aim for 90% capture efficiency,[7] but most of the current installations have failed to meet that goal.[8]
Storage of the captured CO2 is either in deep geological formations or in the form of mineral carbonates. Long-term predictions about submarine or underground storage security are difficult. There is still the risk that some CO2 might leak into the atmosphere.[9][10][11] A 2018 evaluation estimates the risk of substantial leakage to be fairly low.[12][13] As of 2022, around 73% of the CO2 captured annually is used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a process in which CO2 is injected into partially-depleted oil reservoirs in order to extract more oil and then is left underground.[14] Since EOR utilizes the CO2 in addition to storing it, CCS is also known as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).[15]
CCS is so far still a relatively expensive process.[16] Carbon capture becomes more economically viable when the carbon price is high, which is the case in much of Europe.[6] Some environmental activists and politicians have criticized CCS as a false solution to the climate crisis. They cite the role of the fossil fuel industry in origins of the technology and in lobbying for CCS focused legislation.[17] Critics also argue that CCS is only a justification for indefinite fossil fuel usage and equate to further investments into the environmental and social harms related to the fossil fuel industry.[18][19] With regards to public support, communities who have been negatively affected by an industrial activity in the past are less supportive of CCS.[20] Communities that feel inadequately informed about or excluded from project decision-making may also resist CCS development.[21]
Globally, a number of laws and rules have been issued that either support or mandate the implementation of CCS. In the US, the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides support for a variety of CCS projects, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 updates tax credit law to encourage the use of CCS.[22][23] Other countries are also developing programs to support CCS technologies, including Canada, Denmark, China, and the UK.[24][25]