Five common misunderstandings about CCS

All new and large-scale technologies are often met with scepticism since they seem scary, and CCS - Carbon Capture and Storage - is no exception.

The public debate regarding CCS has grown in recent years, which is good, but misunderstandings and misinterpretations are common in the dialogue. In this article from the CCS newsletter - Bridging to the Future - Vattenfall wants to straighten out some important areas of confusion and also clarify its position on five subjects. In the next issue of Bridging to the Future, you will find our thoughts on five more subjects. They will also be published on this page.

1. Is there global consensus on combating climate change?

Most of the world’s leaders recognize the climate change issue and are well aware of the necessity of taking action.

However, there are many countries that have other more prioritized issues on their agendas. For them, the utilization of domestic fossil resources is a means of reaching other objectives with a higher priority. CCS gives hope since it has potential to be affordable also to economies in transition.

2. Could the world be made independent of fossil fuels within a couple of decades?

Fossil fuels have their role and will continue to play a role in global energy supply for a long time to come. There is no way that the world could make itself independent of fossil fuels within the next two decades. Fossil fuels are a far to powerful tool for reaching other important goals.

A functioning energy supply system is a cornerstone of the infrastructure and society at large - it provides added value to people. In western society we have had this for so long that we now take it for granted. In developing countries and economies in transition, improved energy supply is a tool for reaching other goals such as economic growth and improved living conditions for the population. Today, 65 per cent of the world's electricity generation is based on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels now account of 80 per cent of the total energy supply. Fossil fuels are competitive, are found everywhere, are easy to use and can easily be transported.

3. Does CCS waste energy?

CCS plants use more energy for their own processes than traditional power plants with combustion. However, using energy to prevent CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere is not a waste of energy - it is a good use of energy. Future commercial power plants with CCS will probably be more energy efficient than the global average of existing power plants today.

Energy is needed to capture CO₂. The oxygen generation (air
separation) required for both the Oxyfuel and the Precombustion capture processes uses energy. Both Postcombustion and Precombustion processes need energy to re-release CO₂ after amines or other absorbents have absorbed it. Once the CO₂ has been captured it needs to be compressed before cost-efficient transportation. This process also uses energy. These processes use energy that otherwise could have been used to generate additional electricity. However, some of the losses in electricity generation could be used for heat production. Therefore, Vattenfall strongly believes that commercial CCS plants would achieve improved competitiveness as CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plats. It is believed that the learning curve for CCS will be quite fast.
The technology is still young and there is great development potential. For example, Vattenfall believes that it would be possible to build Oxyfuel plants by 2030 with higher electricity efficiency than could be built today using the best commercially-available technology.

4. Can CCS deliver in time?

There are strong reasons to believe that CCS could deliver in time to become a powerful tool in the struggle to significantly reduce global
CO₂ emissions and thereby combat global climate change. No other single measure has the same potential.

Vattenfall strongly believes that CCS could become commercial under the emission-trading scheme in Europe by 2020. Thereby, it has commercial potential to become a powerful tool to reduce CO₂ emissions. Other measures, such as increased energy efficiency and renewables like wind power could deliver faster, but on a smaller scale. It is, however, important to remember that all measures are needed to handle the climate change issue. It is also important to recognise the world's dependence on fossil fuels and that the vast majority of newly constructed power plants, both in Europe and in developing countries, are fired with fossil fuels, usually coal. The best Vattenfall and Europe can do is to show the rest of the world that CCS is possible and that the cost for it is affordable. If we can do this, the rest of the world will follow and a significant global reduction of CO₂ emissions could be achieved.

5. Does CCS reduce efforts to develop renewable and sustainable technologies?

Efforts to develop CCS do not reduce efforts to develop renewable and sustainable technologies. CCS is a powerful complement.

CCS is no silver bullet; it is an intermediate solution along the road to a global low-carbon of CO₂-neutral society. But, CCS does not have the potential to reduce all CO₂ emissions. It could be applied to large point sources but would be too costly for small, outspread sources. CCS is not seen as an option for the transport sector. Therefore, all the players in the energy sector are given high priority to the continued development of renewable and sustainable solutions.
Based on the information available today there is no hope that these technologies could become mature enough to replace the fossil fuels within a reasonable time.