Carbon Capture Technology

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), (carbon capture and
sequestration), refers to technology attempting to prevent the 
release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere from
fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries by
capturing CO2, transporting it and ultimately, pumping it into
underground geologic formations to securely store it away from
the atmosphere. It is a potential means of mitigating the
contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming. The
process is based on capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large
point sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, and storing it
where it will not enter the atmosphere. It can also be used to
describe the scrubbing of CO2 from ambient air as a
geoengineering technique. Although CO2 has been injected into
geological formations for various purposes, the long term
storage of CO2 is a relatively new concept. The first commercial
example was Weyburn in 2000.
An integrated pilot-scale CCS power plant was to begin
operating in September 2008 in the eastern German power
plant Schwarze Pumpe run by utility Vattenfall, in the hope of
answering questions about technological feasibility and
economic efficiency. CCS applied to a modern conventional
power plant could reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by
approximately 80-90% compared to a plant without CCS. The
IPCC estimates that the economic potential of CCS could be
between 10% and 55% of the total carbon mitigation effort until
year 2100.
Capturing and compressing CO2 may increase the fuel needs
of a coal-fired CCS plant by 25%-40%. These and other
system costs are estimated to increase the cost of the energy
produced by 21-91% for purpose built plants. Applying the
technology to existing plants would be more expensive
especially if they are far from a sequestration site. Recent
industry reports suggest that with successful research,
development and deployment (RD&D), sequestered
coal-based electricity generation in 2025 may cost less than
unsequestered coal-based electricity generation today.
Storage of the CO2 is envisaged either in deep geological
formations, in deep ocean masses, or in the form of mineral
carbonates. Deep ocean storage risks greatly increasing the
problem of ocean acidification,[citation needed] an issue that
also stems from the excess of carbon dioxide already in the
atmosphere. Geological formations are currently considered the
most promising sequestration sites. The National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL) reported that North America has
enough storage capacity for more than 900 years worth of
carbon dioxide at current production rates. A general problem 
is that long term predictions about submarine or underground
storage security are very difficult and uncertain, and there is still
the risk that CO2 might leak from the storage into the
atmosphere.


Transport
After capture, the CO2 would have to be transported to suitable
storage sites. This is done by pipeline, which is generally the
cheapest form of transport. In 2008, there were approximately
5,800 km of CO2 pipelines in the United States, used to
transport CO2 to oil production fields where it is then injected
into older fields to extract oil. The injection of CO2 to produce
oil is generally called Enhanced Oil Recovery or EOR.
 In addition, there are several pilot programs in various
stages to test the long-term storage of CO2 in non-oil producing
geologic formations.
According to the Congressional Research Service, "There are
important unanswered questions about pipeline network
requirements, economic regulation, utility cost recovery,
regulatory classification of CO2 itself, and pipeline safety.
Furthermore, because CO2 pipelines for enhanced oil recovery
are already in use today, policy decisions affecting CO2
pipelines take on an urgency that is unrecognized by many.
Federal classification of CO2 as both a commodity (by the
Bureau of Land Management) and as a pollutant (by the
Environmental Protection Agency) could potentially create an
immediate conflict which may need to be addressed not only for
the sake of future CCS implementation, but also to ensure
consistency of future CCS with CO2 pipeline operations
today.
A COA conveyor belt system or ship could also be utilized for
transport. These methods are currently used for transporting
CO2 for other applications.