The captured CO2 gas is then compressed so it becomes liquid-like and transported

polution

sharif 09/03/2025 2 months ago

Today, CCS projects are storing almost 45 million tons of CO₂ every year, which is about the amount of CO₂ emissions created by 10 million passenger cars. Capture generally takes place at large stationary sources of CO₂, like power plants or industrial plants that make cement, steel, and chemicals. Most current carbon capture projects use a liquid to chemically remove the CO₂ before it goes out the smokestack, but several new types of capture processes are under development. The captured CO₂ gas is then compressed so it becomes liquid-like and transported to a storage site, generally through a pipeline. Ship transport is more expensive than using pipelines, but it is being considered in both Europe and Japan. Once at the storage site, the CO₂ is pumped more than 2,500 feet down wells into geological formations like used-up oil and gas reservoirs, as well as formations that contain unusable, salty water.

CCS is sometimes referred to as CCUS, where the “U” stands for utilization. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is the major use of CO₂ today. EOR is where CO₂ is injected into active oil reservoirs in order to recover more oil. Other possible uses of CO₂ include making chemicals or fuels, but they require large amounts of carbon-free energy, making the costs too high to be competitive today. For large-scale implementation of CCS, utilization is projected to use less than 10% of the captured CO₂.

We emit so much CO₂ into the atmosphere that, if carbon capture is going to play any significant part in the fight against climate change, we will have to store most of the captured CO₂ underground. But “utilization”—selling the CO₂ as a valuable product—could help create markets for carbon capture, and make it cheaper for companies to invest in capturing their CO₂ emissions.

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