CARBON CAPTURE SCHEMES

Historical Energy Transitions have happened across the world for well over a century. As old energy solutions die out and new ones come to the fore, there is a large-scale and challenging transition period that has always been adopted successfully despite its complexities.

The next energy transition significantly reduces carbon emissions as part of the U.K. government’s Net-Zero by 2050 scheme.

The subject of this transition is called Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS.

What is CCS?

Imagine driving along a vast stretch of British motorway, and you spot a large power plant in the distance, emitting plumes of smoke into the air. That smoke is full of carbon dioxide and increases the greenhouse effect, making the planet warmer.

Carbon Capture and Storage aims to remove the carbon dioxide from said smoke and store it underground or in a facility.

This process of removing carbon dioxide from unwanted industrial materials has been underway for over 30 years. However, to reach the ambitions Net-Zero plans of the U.K. government, there will need to be an unprecedented upsurge in CCS very soon.

And unfortunately, despite various sites across the U.K. being set up to improve CCS output, many of these endeavours have been abandoned.

The issue seems to be the amount of CCS required against the amount of CCS that is achievable. The numbers are concerning; between 1990 and 2020, CCS schemes across the world captured 139 megatonnes of carbon. To meet the Net-Zero targets over the next thirty years, that number will need to be 7,740 megatonnes. This is an almost 5,500% increase – a probably insurmountable figure.

While CCS does have some significant downsides, it is seemingly the approach that the government wants to take to achieve its goals. However, until more sites dedicated to CCS are opened (and remain open!), there is little hope for the progress of this solution assisting in meeting the objectives of the Net-Zero by 2050 project.