The Green Myth - On Carbon Capture and Storage aka CCS
The green myth – also known as carbon capture and storage
Is carbon capture and storage really going to make a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions? Or is it just an excuse to build more and more polluting power plants driven by black coal?
When asking students about their opinion on carbon capture and storage, most have never heard of the concept before, whereas others only have a vague idea about what it encompasses. However, no one could explain the concept or argument why they saw it as a good development or as a bad one. Since knowledge about carbon capture and storage can come in handy for multiple reasons, this essay was written to enlighten some of my peers and anyone interested. The advantages and disadvantages of carbon capture and storage will be discussed, with special attention for Project ROAD in Rotterdam. In this case, ROAD stands for Rotterdam Opslag en Afvang Demonstratieproject, or translated into English, it stands for Rotterdam Storage and Capture Demonstration project.
There are three different techniques that are used to capture the carbon dioxide: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel-combustion. However, the most common technique is post-combustion, and this technique is also used in Project ROAD. With this technique, carbon dioxide is filtered out of the gasses released by power plants using a cooled solvent. In the case of Project ROAD, this cooled solvent is mono-ethanol-amine. Post-combustion has both advantages and disadvantages compared to the other two forms of combustion. The biggest disadvantages are that the machinery is quite large, that a lot of solvent is needed and that the heating of the solvent can produce toxic by-products. However, major advantages are also present, and the most important one is that post-combustion can be applied to already consisting plants.1
At this very moment, no fully functioning carbon capture and storage power plant has been built, nonetheless more than 20 experiments and pilots
Is carbon capture and storage really going to make a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions? Or is it just an excuse to build more and more polluting power plants driven by black coal?
When asking students about their opinion on carbon capture and storage, most have never heard of the concept before, whereas others only have a vague idea about what it encompasses. However, no one could explain the concept or argument why they saw it as a good development or as a bad one. Since knowledge about carbon capture and storage can come in handy for multiple reasons, this essay was written to enlighten some of my peers and anyone interested. The advantages and disadvantages of carbon capture and storage will be discussed, with special attention for Project ROAD in Rotterdam. In this case, ROAD stands for Rotterdam Opslag en Afvang Demonstratieproject, or translated into English, it stands for Rotterdam Storage and Capture Demonstration project.
There are three different techniques that are used to capture the carbon dioxide: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel-combustion. However, the most common technique is post-combustion, and this technique is also used in Project ROAD. With this technique, carbon dioxide is filtered out of the gasses released by power plants using a cooled solvent. In the case of Project ROAD, this cooled solvent is mono-ethanol-amine. Post-combustion has both advantages and disadvantages compared to the other two forms of combustion. The biggest disadvantages are that the machinery is quite large, that a lot of solvent is needed and that the heating of the solvent can produce toxic by-products. However, major advantages are also present, and the most important one is that post-combustion can be applied to already consisting plants.1
At this very moment, no fully functioning carbon capture and storage power plant has been built, nonetheless more than 20 experiments and pilots