Chem

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology that can capture up to 90% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes, preventing the carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

Furthermore, the use of CCS with renewable biomass is one of the few carbon abatement technologies that can be used in a 'carbon-negative' mode – actually taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

The CCS chain consists of three parts; capturing the carbon dioxide,transporting the carbon dioxide, and securely storing the carbon dioxide emissions, underground in depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifer formations.

First, capture technologies allow the separation of carbon dioxide from gases produced in electricity generation and industrial processes by one of three methods: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture andoxyfuel combustion.

Carbon dioxide is then transported by pipeline or by ship for safe storage. Millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide are already transported annually for commercial purposes by road tanker, ship and pipelines. The U.S. has four decades of experience of transporting carbon dioxide by pipeline for enhanced oil recovery projects.

The carbon dioxide is then stored in carefully selected geological rock formation that are typically located several kilometres below the earth's surface.

Pre-combustion capture

With pre-combustion capture, carbon and hydrogen in a fossil fuel are separated prior to combustion. The fuel source becomes chemically transformed into two gas streams consisting of hydrogen and CO2. 

A pre-combustion system involves first converting solid, liquid or gaseous fuel into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide using one of a number of processes such as ‘gasification’ or ‘reforming’.The hydrogen produced by these processes may be used, not only to fuel our electricity production, but also in the future to power our cars and heat our homes...