Clean Facts. On carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the capture of CO₂ emissions from industrial processes or from fossil-fuel-driven power generation plants. The captured carbon is then compressed and transported, by ships or through a pipeline and permanently stored at least 1.6 km under the ground in rock formations or depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

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CCS technology has been in operation since 1972 when natural gas plants in Texas stored 200 MT of CO₂ underground. It has grown as a carbon capture option ever since. 

According to a 2022 report by the Global CCS Institute, there were 194 large-scale CCS facilities at the end of that year—a big jump from the 51 in operation in 2019. Of the 194 facilities 80 were in the US, and 73 in Europe.

While proponents of CCS have declared it as a proven and widely applicable technology, there are critics as well. A new report, “Assessing the relative costs of high-CCS and low CCS-pathways to 1.5 degrees” from Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment has concluded that dependence on CCS to reach net zero targets would be “hugely economically damaging” and hence not cost effective.

According to the report, the CCS route to net zero would cost $30 trillion more than by opting for renewable energy, energy efficient systems after factoring in the latest technology cost. However, the report says that some levels of CCS will be necessary to achieve net zero. But this should be reserved for hard-to-abate sectors and should not be seen as a “blanket” solution to facilitate the ongoing use of fossil fuels, the researchers noted.

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The Oxford report was prepared in the backdrop of COP28 where oil and gas producing countries unveiled shared carbon storage goals.

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