Page 19 - Q2 SANEDI NEWSLETTER QUARTER 2 208-19
P. 19
What is climate change and how can CCS help?
in more of the sun’s heat being trapped around the earth,
which causes the earth’s temperature to rise and the
climate on earth to change. Experts tell us that this climate
change could significantly impact the way we live for
example, by increasing temperatures and changing when
and how much rain falls and what types of plants grow, and
increasing storms.
Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a technology that
reduces CO2 emissions in order to mitigate climate change.
CCS involves:
• The capture of CO2 emissions from
• large sources of CO2 such as coal power
generation and industry;
• The transport of the CO2 using trucks or pipelines;
and
• The safe and permanent storage of the CO2 in
deep underground rock (Deep Saline Formations).
For a rock formation to be suitable for CO2 storage it must
Gases in the earth’s atmosphere naturally trap heat from be at the right depth - around 800m or deeper below
the sun which make the conditions on earth suitable for the surface, have capacity - enough microscopic holes or
sustaining plant and animal life - including people. These pores in the storage rock to fit the CO2, and containment
gases are known as greenhouse gases. Over time, people - have a caprock above the storage rock that liquid and gas
around the world have been releasing extra greenhouse cannot move through. The rocks used to store CO2 are very
gases - in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), into the similar to rocks that have stored oil and gas, and naturally
atmosphere through processes such as coal power plants occurring CO2, for millions of years which is how we know
and industry. These extra gases in the atmosphere result the process works.
SANEDI NEWSLETTER ISSUE 04 | 2017/2018