British MEP Diana Wallis and the Bellona Foundation1 co-organised the March 7th hearing about carbon dioxide capture and storage which was attended by representatives of the oil and gas industry, power companies and national governments.
Today, the global primary energy2 demand is about 400 exa Joules per year3. according to the International Energy agency4, the global primary energy demand will increase linearly to more than 700 exa Joules per year by the year 2030.
In 2000, 90% of the global demand was supplied by fossil fuels as oil, gas and coal accounted respectively for 40, 24.7 and 25 % of the global consumption of primary energy. Nuclear and hydraulic energy accounted for 7.6 and 2.6 % respectively. Currently the global renewable energy potential is estimated at 50 exa Joules per year. according to International Energy agency estimate, it could grow to about 100 exa Joules per year by year 2030. The wide gap between renewable energy production and global demand implies that fossil fuels will supply most of the energy demand in the coming decades. and burning fossil resources produces carbon dioxide.
In the last century, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 28 percent. While some scientists attribute the rise to natural fluctuations in the level of carbon dioxide, most attribute the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to the burning of fossil fuels. Since 1850 there has been a mean rise in global temperature of approximately 1 Celsius degree. Some scientists argue that this temperature rise could just be part of a natural fluctuation. However, the panel of leading scientists convened by the United Nations in 1995 to evaluate the causes of global warming link this temperature rise to the increase in carbon dioxide levels.
according to the scientists serving on the United Nation panel, the average global temperature will rise to as much as 3.5 Celsius degrees by 2100 if greenhouse-gas emissions are not reduced. The sea level will increase from 60 to 80 cm, as waters expand and ices melt. Tropical diseases will affect parts of the world where they are currently unknown. Hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunamis will be more frequent and stronger on average. Many species will disappear. Millions of people will be affected by major flooding.
Undoubtedly, the development of renewable energy is a part of the solution. However renewable sources of energy cannot meet the growing consumer demand. all available options must be implemented to mitigate climate change. and a method that could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is carbon dioxide capture and storage.
Carbon dioxide emitted from anthropogenic sources such as power plants and large industrial plants can be captured, compressed and transported to a storage site. There are two potential storage options: storage in the oceans and storage in geological reservoirs. Unfortunately, the science of ocean storage is affected by unknowns. In addition, oceans are protected by international laws such the London Convention. Thus, ocean storage is not likely to be promoted in the short term.
However, geological storage of carbon dioxide is a more promising option, capable of achieving deep reductions in the foreseeable future. Potential geological formations that can be used to store captured carbon dioxide include depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline aquifers and deep unminable coal seams. Based on injection costs of up to 20 US$ per ton of carbon dioxide stored, unminable coal seams could store 40 Gt of carbon dioxide while depleted oil and gas fields could store respectively 120 and 690 Gt of carbon dioxide. Deep saline aquifers could store up to 10,000 Gt of carbon dioxide which is the equivalent of several centuries of current production.
according to Nick Riley of the UK Geological Survey, the technology of carbon dioxide storage is safe. "Whilst we delay deploying carbon dioxide capture and storage by agonising over the very low risk of possible leakage from geological storage, we continue to emit 100 percent of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions to the sky. What is unsafe is to fail to deal with fossil fuel emissions effectively and quickly".
The technology of carbon dioxide capture and storage has a very real potential. as emphasised by John Gale of the International Energy agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, carbon dioxide capture is capable of large-scale reductions in carbon dioxide emissions over the next decades. Moreover, this technology requires no major energy infrastructure changes. Yet, large-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage is not likely to be deployed in Europe. Financial burdens and legal barriers hinder the development of commercial-scale projects. Investors will not embrace this technology unless they see a profit-making opportunity.
1 The web site (www.bellona.no) Bellona Foundation
2 Energy commodities may be extracted or captured directly from natural resources such as crude oil, hard coal, natural gas. These are termed primary commodities. all energy commodities which are produced from primary commodities are termed secondary commodities. Primary energy commodities may also be divided into fuels of fossil origin and renewable energy commodities.
3 The International Energy agency (IEa) is an autonomous body which was established in November 1974 within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to implement an international energy programme.
4 Exa stands for 1018 i.e. a billion of billion. The Joule is the unit of energy in the MKSa system of units.