Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS)
A Solution for Large-Source Emissions
CCS can provide an important solution to the large-source emissions problem to combat climate change. The process of CCS involves selectively removing CO2 from the effluent gases of a power plant or other industrial source. Once this CO2 is captured, there are generally three options for its sequestration. First, it can be compressed, pipelined and permanently stored geologically at depths of several thousand meters in saline formations or other suitable geological structures. Second, this pipelined CO2 can be injected into aging oil reservoirs in a technique known as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), where the CO2 will remain permanently sequestered. Finally, if the source of CO2 is near a source of calcium or magnesium-bearing material (such as bauxite residue or other mineral containing industrial waste streams), this material can be carbonated to form mineral solids, locking the CO2 away while creating a neutralized material which may have commercial value.
Geologic Sequestration of CO2 1
1Government of Alberta