Carbon capture

With the rise of climate change, you may have heard some solutions on how to burn less fossil fuels. But these only focus on reducing the carbon output, what about the carbon that's already in the air? That's what carbon capture is for. Carbon capture is an umbrella term for technologies, some of them first proposed in the 1980s, that aim to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere or catch emissions and store them before they are released into the air. 

Carbon storage is a process in which “a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide from factories is separated, treated and transported to a long-term storage location.”

This image shows carbon traveling from the factories to capture sites then to the storage areas.

Infographic created by Isaac W.

Large amounts of highly pressurized CO₂ are transported by pipelines from the capture plants to the storage areas. The carbon is then injected into the ground which will start the residual trapping. Residual trapping is a form of storing carbon that happens when the CO₂ plumes travel through the pores of the rock leaving behind small portions of CO₂.

Globally, CCUS facilities (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) currently capture almost 45 Mt (Megatons - one megaton is equal to 1 million tons) of CO₂. Only 25 Mt is able to be stored in the ground because the injection facility projects got canceled due to concerns. About 90% of CCUS facilities failed or were suspended during the implementation stage. Some failures cost up to $3 billion US dollars. 

Given all this, carbon capture is still a new technology. Every angle and possibility must be examined before it can be put into use. Research about the effects of carbon capture is being done. But even with new technology, experts say that direct air capture is too expensive and uses too much energy for the amount of carbon dioxide that it can capture.

One concern is that carbon capture is only efficient when used in places near high concentrations of carbon dioxide. One of the biggest producers of carbon dioxide in the US is ethanol production. This is why carbon capture plants are so effective when built by factories. Over one thousand tons of ordinary air would have to be processed in order to capture a single ton of CO₂.

This all sparks the real question, is carbon capture even worth it?

According to the US Department of Energy, “If you’re doing too little on the emissions mitigation side, then there is no point of carbon dioxide removal.”  While there is some truth in this statement, carbon dioxide removal will be very important in the long run. 

Others say that we need to find multiple strategies to slow climate change. According to Dr. Herzog of M.I.T. "There is no 100-percent solution. We need a lot of 10- and 20- percent solutions, and this is one of them.” Climate change is a very real issue, and while solutions are being explored there are things you can do yourself. The whole world must pitch in to stop this climate disaster.