Carbon seize is touted as a key climate-fighting know-how by authorities and business alike. Canada’s local weather plan relies upon closely on carbon seize to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions from industrial processes, together with oil and gasoline manufacturing, however the know-how has but to be perfected and there are considerations that counting on it should lock-in fossil gas use.

As a part of a brand new Canada’s Nationwide Observer sequence breaking down local weather fundamentals, we delved into some widespread questions on this contentious carbon-cutting tech. Right here is every little thing you must learn about carbon seize.

What’s carbon seize?

Carbon seize is a know-how that forestalls carbon dioxide launched from industrial processes from reaching the environment and warming the planet. When CO2 — a long-lasting greenhouse gasoline — is emitted by a pure gasoline processing facility, coal or gas-fired energy plant, or fertilizer, cement, chemical or metal manufacturing facility, this know-how captures it proper on the supply so it may be compressed right into a liquid-like type. As soon as compressed, the captured CO2 will be transported by pipeline for use or saved completely. If the CO2 is saved completely, the method is known as carbon seize and storage (CCS). If it’s used first, it’s known as carbon seize, utilization and storage (CCUS).

Carbon seize is commonly confused with a know-how known as direct air seize, however the two are fully completely different. Direct air seize pulls CO2 out of the environment, versus capturing it immediately from an industrial supply.

How does carbon seize work?

One of many three commonest varieties of carbon seize know-how removes CO2 after fossil fuels are burned and is known as post-combustion carbon seize. This know-how will be fitted onto present energy crops and lots of industrial amenities.

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When fossil fuels are burned, scorching exhaust gasoline containing CO2 and different pollution is taken immediately from the smokestack and cooled down utilizing water. The exhaust gasoline then rises up by means of a big tower as a chemical compound known as amines that binds to CO2 molecules and runs downwards, taking the CO2 with it. That is mentioned to take away as much as 90 per cent of the CO2 from the exhaust gasoline, which vents out the highest of the tower. The amine-CO2 resolution that is still is heated and separates the amines from the CO2 so the previous will be reused and the latter will be compressed and transported.

There are two different principal approaches for carbon seize. Pure gasoline processing crops separate CO2 from the gasoline earlier than it’s burned with pre-combustion know-how. Oxy-fuel combustion know-how makes use of pure oxygen to combust gas, which creates waste gasoline composed of water vapour and CO2 that may be captured.

What can carbon seize be used for?

In Canada, carbon seize know-how is used for coal energy, hydrogen manufacturing and all through the oil and gasoline sector.

Saskatchewan is residence to Boundary Dam, the one coal-fired energy station on this planet utilizing carbon seize on certainly one of its models as of February 2023. Alberta has the world’s second hydrogen manufacturing plant outfitted with carbon seize, and one other deliberate for 2024.

The province additionally has a 240-kilometre pipeline that collects carbon captured from the Nutrien fertilizer plant and Sturgeon heavy oil refinery in Redwater, Alta., and transports it to central Alberta to be injected into depleted oil and gasoline reservoirs so corporations can extract extra oil.

This course of — known as enhanced oil restoration — is by far the commonest use of captured CO2. Virtually all of the CO2 captured at Boundary Dam is used for enhanced oil restoration. The truth is, an estimated 80 to 90 per cent of all of the CO2 people have captured within the final 50 years has been used to squeeze extra oil out of outdated wells, in line with a 2022 report by the Institute for Vitality Economics and Monetary Evaluation (IEEFA). Promoting CO2 for this goal permits corporations to recoup the excessive prices of deploying carbon seize know-how within the first place.

As Canada strives to fulfill its local weather targets, the federal authorities is relying on carbon seize know-how to chop down on CO2 air pollution from the manufacturing — however not the use — of oil and gasoline. In Finances 2022, the federal authorities proposed an funding tax credit score program price an estimated $8.6 billion to assist corporations cowl as much as 50 per cent of the price of investing in CCUS tools that might be used for storing CO2 underground or injecting it into cement.

The funding tax credit score will apply retroactively from Jan. 1, 2022, onwards after the laws receives royal assent. Finance Canada advised Canada’s Nationwide Observer in an announcement that “the laws to implement the measure might be tabled in the end.”

Importantly, the funding tax credit score doesn’t rely enhanced oil restoration as an eligible use of CO2 — although that won’t low cost some initiatives from receiving the credit score.

When CO2 isn’t used however fairly saved right away, it’s compressed into its liquid-like type and injected into geological formations known as saline aquifers, sometimes multiple kilometre underground. These formations are a layer of porous rocks saturated with salty water.

By forcing further oil out of mature wells, the improved oil restoration course of provides extra CO2 to the environment than is captured.

There are a handful of much less widespread makes use of for captured CO2 — for instance, injecting it into concrete. CO2 will also be changed into numerous fuels, however this — and area of interest makes use of like carbonation for drinks — instantly places the CO2 again within the environment.

In some sectors — like metal and cement manufacturing — it is rather tough to scale back emissions and carbon seize is likely one of the finest choices to decarbonize, in line with the Worldwide Vitality Company. We are able to change coal, oil and gasoline with clear vitality, however metal and cement are each very energy-intensive to provide and are integral supplies for autos, buildings and most infrastructure. For probably the most half, this isn’t being accomplished at scale, but: Abu Dhabi is residence to the world’s solely operational metal sector carbon seize mission, and the primary cement plant utilizing carbon seize is anticipated to be operational in 2024.

How efficient is carbon seize?

Carbon seize know-how is ceaselessly heralded as with the ability to seize as much as 90 or 95 per cent of CO2 that passes by means of it. The catch is these goal seize charges are aspirational and most initiatives fail to ship constantly.

A latest evaluation of 13 carbon seize initiatives, accounting for greater than half of seize capability from working initiatives worldwide, discovered that 10 of those amenities underperformed and several other failed solely.

Whereas the Quest CCS facility in Alberta has been near hitting its seize targets, a 2022 report by International Witness discovered the hydrogen plant has emitted extra CO2 than the know-how captures and has a median seize charge of lower than 50 per cent.

Boundary Dam Unit 3 in Saskatchewan was designed to have the ability to seize 90 per cent of the emissions from certainly one of its generators, or roughly a million tonnes of CO2 per yr. However in actuality, it has been capturing simply over 615,000 tonnes per yr, in line with IEEFA evaluation primarily based on SaskPower’s knowledge.

Some widespread causes carbon seize know-how underperforms and permits CO2-laden exhaust gasoline into the environment embrace upkeep shutdowns, mechanical issues and different outages because of the excessive quantity of energy wanted to run the know-how.

In lots of instances, CO2 saved by means of enhanced oil restoration is regarded as everlasting, if sealed correctly, in line with the newest IPCC report. Nonetheless, not like devoted underground storage websites, enhanced oil restoration operations sometimes don’t assess the world to ensure it is appropriate to retailer CO2 or monitor the location for leaks after the actual fact.

Between 78 and 98 per cent of CO2 saved in geological formations is estimated to stay safely saved for 10,000 years, in line with a 2018 research printed within the science journal Nature.

Nonetheless, large questions stay about who might be answerable for monitoring CO2 injection websites in the long run to make sure CO2 doesn’t leak into the environment. There are considerations the burden will fall to taxpayers, as has occurred with Canada’s deserted oil and gasoline wells.

Fossil gas corporations and foyer teams laud carbon seize as the reply to the business’s outsized affect on local weather change, insisting the know-how will hold Canadian oil related and aggressive in worldwide markets regardless of the worldwide vitality transition.

However the know-how does nothing to handle the overwhelming majority of the oil and gasoline sector’s CO2 emissions, which happen after we burn fossil fuels to drive automobiles and warmth buildings, for instance.

Carbon seize know-how can be very costly. The federal authorities’s funding tax credit score goals to assist alleviate these prices and different federal applications have doled out tons of of hundreds of thousands for initiatives. Alberta and Saskatchewan have additionally helped foot the invoice with beneficiant subsidies for CCUS initiatives of their jurisdictions.

Is carbon seize a viable local weather resolution?

The reply to this query is determined by who you ask.

Canada’s fossil gas sector and most ranges of presidency say carbon seize is a vital a part of the nationwide and worldwide local weather toolkit, whereas its critics warn it’s a expensive distraction from options like wind and photo voltaic, and dangers locking in fossil gas use for many years to come back.

The world’s main local weather authority — the Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change — says there’s a function for carbon seize as governments attempt to slash emissions and restrict world warming to the Paris Settlement goal of not more than 2 C. However its newest report additionally discovered CCUS and CCS know-how is likely one of the costliest and least efficient choices to handle local weather change.

The world’s at present working carbon seize initiatives are able to capturing simply over 40 million tonnes of CO2 per yr, or roughly 0.1 per cent of worldwide emissions, if all of them carry out as marketed. Domestically, these costly initiatives solely seize about 0.05 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gasoline emissions.

Canada’s oil and gasoline sector made up 27 per cent of the nation’s complete emissions in 2020, in line with the federal authorities. This sector is answerable for extra planet-warming air pollution than some other, however business teams and corporations keep that carbon seize know-how can slash emissions and permit oil and gasoline manufacturing to proceed many years into the long run.

The Pathways Alliance has a plan to outfit as many as 20 oilsands manufacturing amenities with carbon seize know-how and assemble a 400-kilometre pipeline to move captured CO2 to a proposed storage hub close to Chilly Lake, Alta. This huge carbon storage hub would require an estimated $16.5 billion of funding by 2030, in line with the alliance, which represents Canada’s largest oilsands producers.

However carbon seize initiatives that purpose to extend or lengthen fossil gas manufacturing and use are usually not a local weather resolution and end in much more emissions than they seize, local weather advocates and a few scientists and specialists argue. Authorities assist for carbon seize to handle emissions from fossil gas manufacturing basically quantities to a fossil gas subsidy, many say.

In a situation the place the world achieves net-zero emissions by 2050, 34 instances extra carbon seize infrastructure must be constructed by the tip of this decade, primarily based on figures from the Worldwide Vitality Company’s 2022 World Vitality Outlook.