Carbon capture and storage is the process of catching carbon dioxide before it enters the atmosphere and then transporting it to a location deep underground. CCS holds the promise of eliminating up to 90 percent of a coal-fueled power plant’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Carbon dioxide is one of the primary greenhouse gases linked to climate change. Reducing emissions through CCS will allow us to use coal, our most abundant, affordable American energy source, to generate electricity without affecting the environment.
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has a good Web site with background information on CCS (and other climate change related topics).
Some highlights:
- CCS is already used in other industries. CCS technology has been around for a while. West Texas and the Gulf Coast have a 30- year history of using CCS technology to help increase oil recovery. In this application, carbon dioxide is captured and pumped into nearly-empty oil fields to force remaining oil to the top.
- Pipelines exist to transport the captured greenhouse gas. The U.S. already has 3,000 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery.
- The U.S has the capacity to store lots of carbon dioxide. The largest potential for storage of carbon dioxide is in deep saline formations, which are underground porous rock formations infused with brine. America has geological formations capable to safely and indefinitely store carbon dioxide from centuries of continued coal use.
Worldwide, large-scale projects for geologic carbon dioxide storage have been underway for a number of years and monitoring has shown that it is remaining safely underground.