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• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Contacts

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a 3-step process which includes capturing the CO2 from power plants and other industrial sources; transporting the CO2 (usually via pipelines) to storage points; and storing the CO2 safely in geological sites such as deep saline formations or depleted oil and gas fields. There are currently three types of capture technology: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel.

Fossil fuels will continue to play a significant role in the global energy mix for the foreseeable future – both in the UK and internationally – with global demand for coal set to increase by some 70% by 2030. So it is important that Government finds ways of reducing emissions from the use of fossil fuels if we are going to achieve our target of an 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) could play a key role in achieving this with the potential to reduce CO2 emitted from fossil fuel plants by up to 90%.

The individual processes involved in CCS are not novel, but the full chain of technologies (capture, transport, and storage) has yet to be demonstrated together at commercial scale on a power station. Therefore in 2007 the UK Government launched a competition to build the first full scale CCS power plant in the UK. The project aims to demonstrate post-combustion CCS on a coal-fired power station with CO2 stored offshore. Approximately 90% of the CO2 emitted by the equivalent of 300MW – 400MW of generating capacity will be captured. The demonstration project aims to be operational by 2014, making the UK one of only four countries currently funding projects set to be operational within this time frame (alongside Canada, USA and Norway).

CCS Policy

On 23 April 2009 the Government announced plans to accelerate the demonstration and deployment of CCS. A consultation document and Environmental Report will be published in Summer 2009 that will invite comment on an over-arching framework of CCS demonstration and deployment, including how to fund a larger demonstration programme, and the conditions to be placed on future coal power stations. The proposals which will be consulted on include a commitment to step up the number of demonstrations hosted in the UK, a requirement for any new coal power station to demonstrate CCS, and a requirement to retrofit CCS to the entire power station's capacity within five years of the technology being proven.

The Government also published its response to the Towards Carbon Capture and Storage consultation, which will ensure that any new fossil fuel power station is built Carbon Capture Ready, and so is designed so that Carbon Capture Storage technologies can be retrofitted once they are proven. The Government response is available below:

• Towards carbon capture and storage: Government response to consultation (3507KB)
  URN 09D/532

The Government’s aim is consistent with the advice given by the Committee on Climate Change that Government should make it clear that coal power stations should not operate unabated beyond the 2020's. A summary of the proposals to be consulted upon are available on the DECC: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) web page.

What other support do you offer for CCS?

The Government has supported smaller scale demonstration of the component parts of CCS. This was formally through the Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme (HFCATT) scheme. This scheme is now supported through the Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF).

Additionally, the UK Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) considers CCS one of its future technology themes. With a potential billion pound budget for investment across a broad range of low carbon technologies, the ETI is bringing together government and some of the world’s biggest companies with a view to accelerating the development of low-carbon energy technologies towards commercial deployment.

Is the UK doing anything on CCS internationally?

The UK is a strong advocate for the development and deployment of CCS technology, and is internationally recognised as a world leader in working towards achieving this.