Enabling Decarbonisation of the fossil fuel based power sector through CCS

P. Deiana
DOI:  10.12910/EAI2015-002

Climate change has become a widely accepted challenge for our future growth and welfare. Increasing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have been translated to a significant increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to global warming. There are a number of different possibilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future, the most obvious being energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy. However none of the possible technology options to reduce emissions can be seen as a silver bullet, and a broad mix of measures will be necessary to achieve the required reductions. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), sometimes called carbon capture and sequestration, could prevent large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere. The technology involves capturing the CO2 produced by power plants and large industrial plants, compressing it for transportation and then injecting it deep into a rock formation in a carefully selected and safe site, where it is permanently stored.