Carbon dioxide storage - Grantham Briefing Paper 4

Author: Professor Martin Blunt

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) refers to the set of technologies developed to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas from the exhausts of power stations and from other industrial sources, the infrastructure for handling and transporting CO₂ and those for injection and storage in deep geological formations. All the individual elements operate today in the oil and gas and chemical processing sectors. However, their integration for CO₂ capture from power plants and heavy emitting industry is a challenge and the storage of huge quantities of CO₂ underground raises new issues of liability and risk. The focus of this Briefing Paper is on the storage of carbon deep underground; a companion Briefing Paper addresses the capture element of CCS, discussing the set of technologies developed to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas from the exhausts of power stations and from other industrial sources.

Contents

• Introduction
• The need for carbon capture and storage
• Carbon storage in geological formations
• Current storage projects
• Storage mechanisms
• Pressure response
• Injection design
• Transport
• Policy and international context
• Discussion and conclusions
  
  

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