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Keeping Carbon from Escaping: Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon capture & storage:

Keeping Carbon from Escaping: Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS). Various sources and sinks for carbon dioxide. Carbon capture and storage (CCS). Various sources and sinks for carbon dioxide.
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: David Hassenzahl PhD

Hydrocarbon fuels — be they coal, natural gas, petroleum, or biomass — release carbon dioxide (CO2) upon combustion. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) refers to the practice of collecting CO2, concentrating it, transporting it, and storing it in a manner that prevents it from mixing freely with the atmosphere. [1] Storage options include diversion into industrial processes, conversion into mineral carbonates, pumping to the depths of the oceans, and burial in deep geological formations. All phases of CCS (capture, concentration, transportation, and storage) face significant technological and economic challenges.

Many aspects of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) are still at the preliminary stages of development, and this mitigation approach requires sophisticated equipment, consumes extra fuel, and puts additional constraints on the location of facilities. The additional costs of a CCS system are substantial, and estimates depend on source, transport, and storage options. In most systems, CO2 capture is the most expensive step, but this cost should decline by 20% to 30% over the next few decades as new technologies become available.

[1] IPCC (2005) IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Metz, B., O. H. Davidson, C. de Coninck, M. Loos, and L. A. Meyer, eds. Cambridge University Press, New York.

This is an excerpt from the book Global Climate Change: Convergence of Disciplines by Dr. Arnold J. Bloom and taken from UCVerse of the University of California.

©2010 Sinauer Associates and UC Regents

Citation

Arnold J Bloom (Lead Author);David Hassenzahl PhD (Topic Editor) "Keeping Carbon from Escaping: Carbon Capture and Storage". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth December 16, 2010; Last revised Date May 7, 2012; Retrieved May 18, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Keeping_Carbon_from_Escaping:_Carbon_Capture_and_Storage?topic=60464>

The Author

Arnold J Bloom Arnold J. Bloom became a botanist through a circuitous route. Upon receiving an undergraduate degree in Physics from Yale University, he spent several years developing computer models of the spread of air pollution over cities in the USA and Germany. He received a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University, where he also completed a two-semester course in Environmental Legislation at the Law School. He conducted postdoctoral research on the temperature responses of plants at the ... (Full Bio)

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