Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)

Carbon capture and sequestration (or storage)—known as CCS—has attracted interest as a measure for mitigating global climate change because large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emitted from fossil fuel use in the United States are potentially available to be captured and stored underground or prevented from reaching the atmosphere. Large, industrial sources of CO 2 , such as electricity-generating plants, are likely initial candidates for CCS because they are predominantly stationary, single-point sources. Electricity generation contributes over 40% of U.S. CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels. Congressional interest has grown in CCS as part of legislative strategies to address climate change. which included $3.4 billion for projects and programs related to CCS. Of that amount, $1.52 billion would be made available for a competitive solicitation for industrial carbon capture and energy efficiency improvement projects, $1 billion for the renewal of FutureGen, and $800 million for U.S. Department of Energy Clean Coal Power Initiative Round III solicitations, which specifically target coal-based systems that capture and sequester, or reuse, CO 2 emissions. The $3.4 billion contained in ARRA greatly exceeds the federal government's cumulative outlays for CCS research and development since 1997. The large and rapid influx of funding for industrial-scale CCS projects may accelerate development and deployment of CO 2 capture technologies. Currently, U.S. power plants do not capture large volumes of CO 2 for CCS, even though technology is available that can potentially remove 80%-95% of CO 2 from a point source. This is due, in part, to the absence of either an economic incentive (i.e., a price for captured CO 2) or a regulatory requirement to curtail CO 2 emissions. In addition, DOE estimates that CCS costs between $100 and $300 per metric ton (2,200 pounds) of carbon emissions avoided using current technologies. Those additional costs mean that power plants with CCS would require more fuel, and costs per kilowatt-hour would be higher than for plants without CCS. After CO 2 is captured from the source and compressed into a liquid, pipelines or ships would likely convey the captured CO 2 to storage sites to be injected underground. Three main types of geological formations are being considered for storing large amounts of CO 2 as a liquid: oil and gas reservoirs, deep saline reservoirs, and unmineable coal seams. The deep ocean also has a huge potential to store carbon; however, direct injection of CO 2 into the deep …