CarbonCapture&Storage:
RealityCheck
By Elena Virkkala Nekhaev
T
he long-term trends of global population growth and Statoil’s Sleipner Project in the North Sea
economicdevelopmentaresettocontinuefordecades Carboncaptureandstorageisnotanewtechnology.Ithas
despitetemporaryslowdownssuchastheonetheworld beendevelopedandwasintroducedbeforetheenvironment,
is currently witnessing. The underlying demand for energy GHG emissions and climate change became a major public
worldwidewillnotdisappear,especiallysincetherearenearly concerninthelastdecadeofthe20
th
century.Theoriginal
two billion people in the world – about a third of the total purposeofCCSdevelopmentwasdifferentthough,asitwas
population–whostilllackaccesstocommercialenergy. primarilyintendedtoincreasetherecoveryratesinoilandgas
Theincreasingproductionanduseofenergyandfossilfuels fields. Carbon capture and sequestration became a reality
inparticular,haveanumberofseriousimpacts,includingthe when,in1999,forthefirsttime,CO
2
wascapturedfromthe
growing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the gasproductionstreamoftheWestSleipnernaturalgasfield
atmosphere,whichthreatenstoresultinanirreversiblechange operated by the Norwegian company Statoil – now
ofclimate,i.e.globalwarming.Sincetodaythereisnorealistic StatoilHydro – in the North Sea and re-injected into the
large-scalealternativetofossilfuels,especiallyforroad,sea permeablerockbeneaththeseabed.AtSleipnertheuseofCCS
andairtransport,theworldislookingforwaysofusingfossil hasalreadyhelpedavoidthereleaseintotheatmosphereof
fuelsinamoreenvironmentallysustainablemanner. over10milliontonnesofCO
2
.
Before looking into the future, it may be useful to revisit
whathashappenedoverthepastdecade: The Role of Fossil Fuels
•
Worldpopulationhasgrownby12%,andtodayover60% Despitethecurrentunpopularityofcoal,thereareanumber
ofallpeopleliveinEastandSouth-EastAsia. offactorsthatwillensurethecontinuinguseofcoalwithinthe
•
Consumptionofprimaryenergyhasincreasedby20%and energymix.Coalreservesaremuchlargerthanthoseofoil
electricityconsumptionby32%. andgas.Oncurrentestimatestheproduction/reservesratiofor
•
OilpricesjumpedfromUS$10tonearlyUS$150perbarrel coalgloballyismorethan200years,comparedtoabout60
in2008andthendroppedbacktoaroundUS$40. years for natural gas at current consumption levels. Many
countries heavily depend on coal for electricity and heat
These figures are considerably higher than in any high production, including the current and future major coal
growth scenarios drawn 20 years ago. Current ‘business as consumingnationssuchasChina,India,theUnitedStatesand
usual’scenariospaintasimilarpicture: others.Inmorethan75countriesaroundtheworld,coalis
•
Globalenergydemandisexpectedtodoubleinthenext30- available locally, a factor which is often considered to
40years,withChinaandIndiaaloneaccountingforover strengthen security of supply. Natural gas prices have
40%oftheincrease. traditionallyshowngreatervolatilitythancoalpricesandthis
•
Electricitydemandisexpectedtotripleoverthesametime hasamajorimpactontheplanningandimplementationof
period. powergenerationschemes.Inaddition,futuregassupplieswill
•
Fossilfuelswillremainthebackboneofenergysupply,and comefromincreasinglyremoteregionswithharshconditions,
theirusewillevenincreaseinabsoluteterms,whiletheir andthisisexpectedtoincreasepricevolatilityevenfurther.
shareintheenergymixwilldropslightly. In a world where coal reserves are abundant and widely
•
GlobalCO
2
emissionsareexpectedtorisebymorethan distributedacrosstheregionsandwherecoal-firedgeneration
50% and again two countries, China and India, will accountsforabout40%ofthetotal,cleancoaltechnologies
togetheraccountfor60%ofglobalCO
2
emissionsby2050. (includingCCS)canmakeahugedifferenceandhelpaddress
notonlytheenvironmentalconcerns,butalsoenergypoverty
Whilethereisnosinglesolutionforthisglobalchallenge, andsecurityofsupply.
there are a number of ways of preventing, reducing or
mitigating the adverse impacts of fossil energy use. They The Role of Technologies
include improvements in energy efficiency, energy Thecoalandpowergenerationindustries,includingelectro-
conservation, increasing the contribution from renewable engineering companies and equipment manufacturers, are
energy, continued use of nuclear power and deployment of continuously working on the development of new efficient
clean fossil fuel technologies, including carbon capture and technologies. There are several technological options for
storage(CCS). improving efficiencies and limiting harmful emissions in
134 worldPower2009
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