Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) can cut CO2 emissions on a large scale at competitive cost, according to the International Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF).
CSLF, formed in 2003 at the initiative of the US Department of Energy, is a ministerial-level organization of 22 governments promoting technology to reduce CO2 emissions. The group met Mar. 27-28 in Paris.
It has determined that CO2 CCS can achieve as much as 55% of the reductions required to stabilize atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases in this century and that it can reduce ultimate stabilization costs from projected levels by 30% or more. CSLF recognizes 17 CCS projects in developed and developing nations, including two in China and India.
Thomas D. Shope, principal deputy assistant secretary in DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy, cited technical progress that CSLF has made but said governments and the industry need a CO2 cost analysis for long-term decision-making.
Trude Sundset, a Statoil researcher and chairman of the CSLF Technical Committee, said CCS projects in Europe and North America are dedicated to matters such as cutting costs of CO2 capture technology and developing new methods of combustion; identifying storage capacity, and widening understanding of geologic reservoirs; predicting behavior of stored carbon in various kinds of reservoirs over a thousand years; and developing technologies for successful, reliable, and long-term monitoring measurements and verification of stored carbon.
She said CSLF believes geologic storage at great depth is possible in depleted and declining oil fields where sequestration linked with CO2 enhanced oil recovery can also improve near-term supply by boosting production in natural gas fields; in unminable coal seams, which may add to natural gas supply by displacing methane; in very deep saline reservoirs; and in other geologic formations such as basalt.
From preliminary findings, CSLF estimates that the world’s storage capacity exceeds 11 billion tonnes, compared with annual emissions of 24 billion tonnes. Many CSLF-approved demonstrations are meant to quantify the potential and identify the best storage sites.
