Climate change from greenhouse gases is a global concern. And with fossil fuels expected to supply the majority of the world’s energy needs in the coming decades, new technologies and innovations are needed to reduce emissions. That’s why carbon capture and storage is being developed. It can significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from large industrial sources and storing it deep underground.
Using existing technologies, the collected carbon dioxide gas is compressed to a liquid and pumped deep within the earth. Far below existing hydrocarbon deposits. Far below any drinkable ground water. The carbon dioxide is trapped in a porous layer beneath multiple layers of rock and salt, just like oil, gas and CO2 have been naturally trapped in geological formations for millions of years. Constant monitoring makes sure the carbon dioxide is safely and permanently stored. So far, the results are encouraging. One test facility expects to capture CO2 equivalent to the emissions from 250,000 cars each year.
How is the carbon dioxide collected?
Capture facilities use a product called amine to capture the CO2 from the process stream. The CO2 is then separated from the amine solution with heat, then dehydrated and compressed. The compression reduces its volume by about 400 times turning it into a very dense fluid. The “liquid” CO2 is then transported by an underground pipeline to injection wells for underground storage.
