How does carbon capture fight climate change?
The carbon capture plants are designed to prevent carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial processes and power stations from being released into the atmosphere. The announcement was part of the government's new net zero strategy and aims to move the United Kingdom closer to meeting its legally-binding carbon commitments.
The UK has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Net zero means a country takes as much of these climate-changing gases – such as carbon dioxide – out of the atmosphere as it puts in.
Burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to generate electricity emits CO2, which is the main driver of climate change. The carbon capture and storage process stop most of the CO2 produced from being released, and either re-uses it or stores it underground.
The UK government wants a new power station where carbon dioxide is captured and stored under the North Sea – either in old oil and gas reservoirs, or permeable rocks known as saline aquifers. Carbon capture power plants are part of the government's commitment to remove carbon from UK electricity production by 2035.
It hopes to build at least one by the mid-2020s, although that decline now looks improbable. There has been a big expansion in renewable energy in the last decade – in particular, the use of offshore wind – but the unresolved question is how to keep the lights on when the wind isn't blowing. Carbon capture and storage power stations are seen as part of the solution, along with the increased use of nuclear energy, and other rapidly – evolving technologies such as hydrogen.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced extra support for nuclear power in the budget. He wants to reclassify it as “environmentally sustainable” so the industry can access some of the financial incentives available to other forms of renewable energy.
Like fossil fuels, nuclear fuels are non-renewable energy resources, but unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power stations do not produce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane duringtheiroperation. Building new nuclear plants does create emissions – through manufacturing the steel and other materials needed. But the emissions footprint – the total emissions generated across the lifecycle of a plant – is still very low. David Khoza, Council for Geoscience, South Africa discussed that country's carbon capture and storage, utilisation and storage pilot storage project funded by the World Bank and the South African government. He emphasised that carbon capture and storage projects need to be commercially profitable to make the project sustainable for the long term. Peter Ekweozoh, federal ministry of science, Nigeria, shared his country's programmes on carbon capture and storage, which include: conducting a comprehensive technology assessment in Nigeria across all sectors; developing a national energy transition plan; promoting technology within the policy framework; and establishing a national technology roadmap.
He announced the upcoming launch of Nigeria's Africa Centre of Excellence for Carbon Management and Technology Innovation, which will serve as a platform for knowledge dissemination and become a ‘'one-stop shop for policymakers and industries.” Dayo Adeshina, office of the vice-president, Nigeria, shared that the Nigerian government is committed to an energy transition programme where carbon capture and storage play a significant part. He added that the country has already taken steps to develop a carbon capture and storage pilot project in collaboration with the World Bank and International Energy Agency (IEA).
With the launch of the centre, he encouraged other African countries to help them carry out the programme. Abdelghafour Zaabout, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, encouraged collaborations on carbon capture and storage projects as he sees carbon capture as a business opportunity that can create a new industry in Africa for ‘'decarbonisation of hard–to–abate industries.'' Cape Town – South Africa has started geological mapping at the country's first carbon capture and storage site, where it plans to inject vast quantities of CO2 deep underground from 2023, a senior Council for Geoscience official said.
The project will be based around the town of Leandra, Mpumalanga province, in South Africa's northeast, a carbon emissions hotspot and home to several coalfired power stations as well as Sasol's. In September 2022 there were just 30 carbon capture facilities in the world, according to a report from the Global CCS Institute.
Carbon capture and storage have long been viewed as playing a critical role in the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is key to tackling global warming. This event highlighted the experience of emerging economies through carbon capture and storage projects and relevant lessons from the experience of the USA, Norway, the UK and Canada. Tim Dixon, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG), moderated the event and he called attention to the importance of Africa in carbon management and emphasized that Africa has the right to develop its resources given that all but a few of its citizens ‘'don't have access to reliable power.”