Carbon Capture - From Industrial Emissions to Climate Mitigation – What’s the Real Potential?
Carbon Capture - From Industrial Emissions to Climate Mitigation – What’s the Real Potential?
Blog Article
What Is Carbon Capture?
Carbon capture, also known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), refers to a set of technologies that remove CO₂ from industrial processes or directly from the atmosphere. The captured carbon can then be compressed and transported to a storage site, usually in geological formations such as depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifers.
According to a Carbon Capture and Storage Market report, the industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
There are three main types of carbon capture:
Pre-combustion capture – CO₂ is removed before fuel is burned.
Post-combustion capture – CO₂ is captured from flue gases after fuel combustion.
Direct air capture (DAC) – CO₂ is pulled directly from ambient air, though this is still in its infancy and is energy-intensive.
Where Is Carbon Capture Being Used?
Currently, CCS is primarily applied in heavy industries such as cement, steel, and power generation – sectors that are difficult to decarbonize using renewable energy alone. As of 2024, around 40 commercial-scale CCS facilities are operational worldwide, according to the Global CCS Institute. The United States, Norway, and copyright are among the leaders in implementing these technologies.
In some cases, captured CO₂ is even used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), where it's injected into oil fields to push more oil to the surface – a practice that raises eyebrows among climate advocates.
The Climate Mitigation Argument
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has repeatedly pointed out that CCS could be critical in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, particularly for emissions that are hard to abate. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), over 1.2 gigatonnes of CO₂ would need to be captured annually by 2030 to stay on track with net-zero scenarios.
Moreover, CCS is often seen as a bridge technology – enabling emissions reductions today while renewables and green hydrogen scale up to meet long-term energy needs.
Challenges to Realizing Its Potential
Despite its promise, carbon capture is far from a silver bullet. Several hurdles stand in the way of widespread deployment:
Cost: CCS remains expensive, often adding 50–100% to the cost of electricity or industrial production. Without strong carbon pricing or government subsidies, it struggles to compete economically.
Infrastructure: Capturing CO₂ is only part of the equation – it also needs to be transported and stored, which requires massive infrastructure investments.
Storage Concerns: Long-term storage poses both environmental and public trust issues. While geological storage has been proven safe in many cases, risks of leakage and seismic activity remain.
Policy and Regulation: The global regulatory framework is still catching up. Clear legal pathways for liability, ownership, and monitoring of stored carbon are essential but often lacking.
Critics and Controversies
Critics argue that carbon capture may serve as a lifeline for fossil fuel industries, delaying the transition to clean energy. They also caution that over-reliance on CCS might reduce incentives to invest in renewables, energy efficiency, and behavioral change.
Moreover, technologies like DAC, while promising, are energy-hungry and not yet commercially viable at scale. There's a risk that they could become a technological distraction rather than a solution.
The Bottom Line
Carbon capture is not a panacea, but it may be a necessary piece of the climate puzzle. For sectors where emissions are unavoidable – such as cement and steel – it offers a viable decarbonization pathway. However, for CCS to fulfill its real potential, it must be integrated into a broader climate strategy that includes renewables, electrification, and systemic change.
The next decade will be decisive. With the right policies, investments, and public buy-in, carbon capture could help bend the emissions curve. But without them, it risks becoming another overhyped technology that fails to deliver on its climate promise.
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