The latest addition to our series of energy factsheets looks at a method not of energy generation, but for the disposal of waste products from the burning of fossil fuels: carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS involves capturing Carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels, compressing it down into a liquid state, transporting this liquid to deep geological storage points such as depeleted oil and gas fields, injecting it into these rock formations and trapping it there beneath low permeability rocks, or by other means.
CCS is an increasingly popular idea, supposedly offering the potential to stop the release of harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmoshpere, whilst continuing to burn fossil fuels for energy generation. However, very few CCS projects have actually been implemented globally and there are great concerns about the practicality, safety and sustainability of this technology being raised by various stakeholder groups.
