So I’ve been wrapping my head around possible ways to achieve the goal of keeping average global temperatures within 2°C of the 2000 level for remainder of 21st century. A huge expansion of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology would help – but how feasible is it? Currently, not very.
Problem 1 is economic. CCS is expensive and there isn’t the political will or commercial zeal to take on its costs. Here’s what a recent CCS progress report says:
“Without predictable government support, emission limits or a strong carbon price, private investors and utilities are reluctant to build new CCS-equipped plants or retrofit the existing ones. At the same time, governments cannot entirely finance projects whose financial viability, especially in the power sector (where the majority of GHGs are produced), is unclear. But without new investment, deployment and testing, it is unlikely to achieve the progress needed to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Bringing CCS in line with a 2°C scenario would require a total undiscounted investment of USD 3.6 trillion until 2050. Current cumulative investment in large-scale CCS has amounted to USD 12 billion since 2005.” (D’Aprile, 2016)
Problem 2 is time: the process of identifying, exploring and finally building CCS storage sites can take decades. Committing to this process is a risky proposition, given that much remains unknown about where and how to store carbon. The best way to find out is to learn by doing. But that’s time consuming and expensive, with uncertain payoff – and so far, few governments or investors have been willing to jump in. A classic Catch-22 situation.
Problem 3 is political: you can bet that opposition to CCS will be massive. CCS involves transportation of CO2 (likely compressed and through pipelines), which would then be injected into deep underground rock formations. It doesn’t matter that these formations would be a mile or more beneath the surface in porous rock that holds the CO2, overlaid with impermeable, non-porous layers of rock that trap the CO2 and prevent it from migrating upward. The same groups freaked out about fracking and the Keystone pipeline will go apoplectic in practice even in sanguine in principle.
So where does that leave us? I say keep trying with the carbon capture and storage – you never know: there may be a breakthrough. But we can’t count on CCS to save the planet.
Not to worry!
References:
D’Aprile, A. Advances and slowdowns in Carbon Capture and Storage technology development . ICCG Reflection No. 48/May 2016
Liang et al Recent progress and new developments in post-combustion carbon-capture technology with amine based solvents International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control Volume 40, September 2015, Pages 26–54
What is carbon dioxide capture and sequestration? https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ccs/