What is carbon capture and storage technology? [14][1][2][3][11]
It is a technology which involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning fossil fuels in electricity generation and energy intensive industrial processes, transporting it and geologically storing it to prevent the carbon dioxide from spreading to the atmosphere.
Carbon capture technology can recover up to 90% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted [1]. The process of CCS consists of three parts: (Capture, transportation and storage).
1. Capture [18][20][11] It involves separating CO2 from other gases at large industrial process facilities or electricity generation plants. This can be done in three ways: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture and oxy-fuel combustion.
2. Transporting [15][16][11]
The captured emissions than compressed into a fluid and transported using different transportation methods including rail, trucks, ships and pipeline. The transportation of CO2 uses the same technologies as in transporting oil and natural gas and is subject to the same safety and health standards in hydrocarbons transportation. An appropriate transportation method is chosen based on the quantity of the CO2 being transported.
Pipeline transportation is the most common transportation method for very large quantities over a large pipeline network around the world.
Truck and rail transportation is ideal for transporting small quantities of captured CO2 to a nearby
Case Background: - In transportation industry, one of the biggest challenge is how to deal with carbon dioxide emissions and how to reduce the energy. According to the Natural Resources Canada, one third of the greenhouse emission is because of transportation industry.
It implies that it is possible to make coal a fuel source that is free of (or very low in) carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutant emissions. Some of the techniques that would be used to accomplish this include chemically washing minerals and impurities from the coal, gasification (see also IGCC), treating the flue gases with steam to remove sulfur dioxide, carbon capture and storage technologies to capture the carbon dioxide from the flue gas and dewatering lower rank coals (brown coals) to improve the calorific value, and thus the efficiency of the conversion into electricity.
In today’s world, the topic of energy is dominated by one thing: ancient organic matter. Carbon and oxygen that existed in this matter when it was alive is still present and is released in the form of carbon dioxide when the coal and oil it was compressed into is burned. The problem is that the carbon that was buried over millions of years was never naturally supposed to be released back into the atmosphere it used to exist in at such an alarming rate. The amount of carbon dioxide flooding into our atmosphere needs to be limited or there will be severe consequences in our future.
The burning of gasoline by automobiles releases carbon dioxide and other types of air pollution
In 2012, transportation accounted for 19% of the total global energy consumption, 96% of which was produced by fossil fuels [1, p. 201]. Furthermore, air transport is the most carbon intensive mode of transportation, accounting for approximately 10 times more carbon emissions than road transport and 100 times more than shipping (per tonne km) [2, p. 4].
Carbon Capture and Sequestration is the process of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by injecting the compound back in the ground. The process takes 3 steps:
The removal of CO₂ may be a huge challenge and a spotlight has centered on removing CO₂ from the exhaust of fuel power plants, wherever it's gift in higher concentrations. Typically, that CO₂ is destined for carbon capture and storage (CCS), however an alternative choice is that, it’s doable to require CO₂ directly from exhaust gases and create new chemicals.
Co2 also has many beneficial attributes to our environment. Carbon Dioxide is one of the most important gases for our plants “some scientists have argued that, until quite recently, many plants were starving for CO2” (Mathews Jr, NPA). And saving the plants is crucial. Not only to help regulate our environment but also because we live off these plants. They are our food; they clean our air. Bigger, healthier plants are grown with the help of Co2 “Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide doesn't just make a plant bigger. Carbon dioxide also makes plants more resistant to extreme weather conditions.”
as it is a form of fossil fuel that can power plants for some countries
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide is one of the primary sources used of carbon in life on Earth and its concentration in Earth's pre-industrial atmosphere. Plants, algae and Cyanobacteria are part of the carbon cycle that uses light energy. Co2 is produced by all aerobic organisms when they metabolize carbohydrates and lipids to produce energy by respiration. It is returned to water by the gills of fish and to the air by the lungs of land animals, including humans. Co2 is produced during the processes of decay of organic materials and the fermentation of the sugar in bread, beer and the making of wine. It is produced by combustion of wood, other organic materials and fossil fuels such as coal, peat, petroleum and natural
The transport sector is one of the main global consumers of fossil fuel related energy in the world. Unfortunately fossil fuel is non-renewable source of energy and the production of oil has been fluctuating in the recent past. At the same time, combustion of petroleum related fuel release greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide that destroy the ozone layer and result to further environmental degradation. Therefore to work
“CO2 gas emissions” is a mystical term which everyone should pay attention to. C02 gas is a colorless, odorless gas that is present in the atmosphere and is formed when any fuel containing carbon is burned. Plants and trees are using it in the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is also used in refrigeration, fire extinguishers, and carbonated drinks. In other words this is the gas we need to fight with! By using fossil fuels in almost everything we do, we make a huge cloud of gas and this is warming up the world. By doing this, we cause serious damage to the nature and we may have an irreversible effect on it and the future.
CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the
CO2 is one the gases in the greenhouse gas family and with “a stronger greenhouse effect [it] will warm the oceans and partially melt glacier and other ice, increasing sea level” (Climate Change). As humans continue to emit greenhouse gases into the air it is inevitable that sea levels will raise, temperatures will increase throughout the globe, and ultimately change the climate drastically damaging many ecosystems and impacting the way in which humans live on Earth. Many make the argument that the reason fossil fuels are the primary source of energy is due to their density amount of energy, but there is another source of energy that has energy even more dense than fossil fuels.
Truck transportation has been the backbone of freight movements in the United States and across the globe for decades. While utilizing trucks is an economical way to move freight for short hauls of less than a 1,000 miles, there are high environmental and infrastructure costs for utilizing this mode of transportation. According to Lowe, road transportation’s use of energy resources rose 103 per cent in the period since 1970 (2005). Additionally, Lowe points out that road transportation’s emission of green house gasses, “increased by 76% between 1971 and 1989” (Lowe, 2005, p. 112). Furthermore, road transportation is the largest polluter in the industry. It utilizes “over 80% of the total energy used in the transport sector and contributes over 75% of its total CO2 output (Lowe, 2005, p. 113). Finally, freight transportation by heavy vehicles causes pavement damage at significantly higher rates than passenger traffic (SSTI, 2011).