Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
C
ARBON
C
APTURE AND
S
EQUESTRATION
(CCS):
A
P
RIMER
Peter Folger
S
UMMARY
Carbon capture and sequestration (or storage)—known as CCS—has
attracted congressional interest as a measure for mitigating global climate
change because large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emitted from
fossil fuel use in the United States are potentially available to be captured
and stored underground and prevented from reaching the atmosphere.
Large, industrial sources of CO
2
, such as electricity-generating
plants,
are
likely
initial
candidates
for
CCS
because
they
are
predominantly stationary, single-point sources.
Electricity generation contributes over 40% of U.S. CO
2
emissions
from fossil fuels. Currently, U.S. power plants do not capture large
volumes of CO
2
for CCS.
Several projects in the United States and abroad—typically
associated with oil and gas production—are successfully capturing,
injecting, and storing CO
2
underground, albeit at relatively small scales.
The oil and gas industry in the United States injects nearly 50 million
tons of CO
2
underground each year for the purpose of enhanced oil
recovery (EOR). The volume of CO
2
envisioned for CCS as a climate
