Carbon Capture and Storage

As the urgency of climate change grows, the world is racing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are leading the way, but at the current pace these technologies will not be enough to reach net-zero before temperature rises exceed the point of large-scale changes. This is where Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) comes in. CCS is a developing technology that captures carbon dioxide that has already been emitted.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide accounts for roughly 66–76% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the single largest driver of human-caused global warming. If the world hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century, CCS could be a crucial piece of the puzzle.

How Carbon Capture and Storage Works

At its core, CCS is a three step process:

1. Capture: CO₂ is separated from the air

2. Transport: The captured gas is compressed and transported, often via pipelines.

3. Storage: CO₂ is injected into deep geological formations, such as depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers, where it can remain trapped for thousands of years.

   
   

Unlike other climate solutions, CCS can actively remove CO₂ already in circulation, helping achieve what scientists call net-negative emissions.

Capturing Directly from the Atmosphere

One approach to CCS is Direct Air Capture (DAC), where machines filter CO₂ directly from the air. While the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere is relatively low (around 0.04%), DAC technology has the advantage of being highly flexible. These modules can be deployed almost anywhere, without the need for existing infrastructure.

However, because the process requires pulling massive volumes of air through the system, it tends to consume large amounts of space and energy. Current DAC facilities, such as Climeworks’ Orca plant in Iceland, are still relatively small-scale, capturing only a few thousand tons of CO₂ annually. Still, the technology is advancing quickly, and DAC represents a powerful way to remove greenhouse gasses already in the atmosphere.

Capturing at Manufacturing Plants and Power Stations

A more established method is capturing CO₂ at the source of emissions, particularly in heavy industries like steel, cement, and power generation, where emissions from smokestacks are much more concentrated. This makes capture far more efficient and cost-effective.

Canada’s Boundary Dam Power Station has been fitted with CCS equipment to capture emissions from coal power, while the Petra Nova project in Texas has shown that large-scale capture from power plants is feasible. By targeting major emission hubs, CCS can prevent millions of tons of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere each year, making these facilities significantly closer to carbon neutrality.

The trade-off is that these systems require large, complex retrofits and cannot always be installed with current infrastructure. Regardless, for industries with no low-carbon alternatives like cement manufacturing, CCS may be the only solution.

Storage

Once captured, CO₂ must be stored safely and permanently. The most common method is injecting it into deep geological formations, often over half a mile underground. In some cases, CO₂ is used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), where it is injected into oil fields to push out remaining oil. However, this system has other implications such as prolonging the widespread usage of fossil fuels.

Promising storage strategies include saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields, and mineralization projects, where CO₂ reacts with basalt rock and turns into stone within a few years.

Challenges

While CCS offers huge potential, it faces real challenges:

• Cost: Capturing CO₂ can cost anywhere from $50–$120 per ton

• Energy use: The process itself consumes energy

• Infrastructure: Building pipelines and storage facilities requires major investment and public acceptance.

• Public perception: Critics argue CCS gives fossil fuel industries an excuse to delay the transition to renewables.

  
  

Conclusion

No single solution will solve climate change, but CCS offers a pathway to address the toughest emissions while also cleaning up CO₂ already in the air. If scaled up alongside renewable energy, electrification, and energy efficiency, CCS could help us achieve net-zero—and even net-negative—emissions in the coming decades.