17th June 2025
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the low carbon processes promoted by fossil fuel companies as a low carbon product. CCS involves three stages:-
- Capturing the CO2 for storage – The CO2 is separated from other gases produced in industrial processes, such as those at coal and natural-gas-fired power generation plants, or steel or cement works..
- Transport – The CO2 is compressed and transported via pipelines, road transport or ships to a site for storage.
- Finally, the CO2 is injected into rock formations deep underground for permanent storage. (1)
CCS has been put forward as part of the global net zero ambition to tackle those industrial processes where it is difficult to reduce or remove carbon emissions – eg iron ore smelting, cement making and a small number of similar chemical manufacturing processes that unavoidably produce CO2 as a by-product.
However CCS is still a technology in its infancy and currently has a negligible impact on reducing carbon emissions globally. It is also expensive and does itself require additional energy inputs.
“[There are] 50 operational CCUS projects globally, with about 44 under construction and more than 500 in some stage of planning. Operational projects are capturing about 50 million metric tons of CO2 per year (MtCO2/yr). If all projects in development were complete, estimated total CCUS capacity would be between 416 and 520 MtCO2/yr, which is around 0.9%-1.1% of today’s global greenhouse gas emissions.” (1)
In the UK the Net Zero Teeside Power (NZT Power) project is being developed to capture the carbon emissions from a new gas-fired power station. The power station will be located in the Tees estuary and it’s CO2 will be stored under the North Sea. The 743MW power station will probably supply about 1 to 1.5% of the UK’s electricity needs. The carbon capture technologies to be used is Shell’s CANSOLV, a technology used previously for CCS at two coal fired power stations. It is an as-yet untried technology for gas power stations. Carbon Commentary comments further on this:-
“Typically, gas power stations emit an exhaust stream which is only about 3.5% CO2, a number far lower than most chemical processes and also well below the concentrations from a coal-fired power station. Capturing CO2 from a gas-fired power station is the most expensive way of reducing emissions from a static source.
“Assuming that the proposed NZT power station typically delivers electricity at an average price of £75 per MWh, the CCS will add between about 50% and about 100% to the cost of the power. The total bill to customers will range from about £112 to approximately £150 per MWh. These figures compared to costs of around £50 for onshore wind and solar.” (2)
CCS is clearly a developing technology but is surely one that is best reserved for decarbonising those manufacturing processes where there is no alternative solution and not as a means of allowing for the continued burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity when there are so many other carbon free options such as wind, solar and tidal.
Further reading:-
- https://www.wri.org/insights/carbon-capture-technology
- https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-is-ccs-how-does-it-work
The Green Tau 