Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS).

Guest Post by Howard Dewhirst

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS).

The CCS idea is to capture, compress and inject human CO₂ emissions into underground reservoirs, but even if it were true that human CO₂ emissions alone were responsible for global warming and climate change, there are three insurmountable problems that would render the whole expensive exercise pointless.

Firstly, if 1 ppm of CO₂ could be removed from the atmosphere in a year, Henry’s Law would ensure that the oceans would automatically replace it, to maintain the chemical balance between the two storehouses of CO₂.

Secondly; the scale of the undertaking is monstrous. To reduce atmospheric CO₂ (not emissions) by just 1 ppm per year, would entail the capture of 7,800 million tons of CO₂, or 4,340 BCM (or 4.3 trillion m³), which is more than the world’s total production of natural gas of 3,854 BCM (3.854 trillion m³) in 2020. Just how large a task this is, is shown by the IEA aiming to reach 6,000 tons per year only by 2050.[1]

Thirdly, according to the IPCC,[2] around half of human emissions are sequestrated by the earth’s biosphere and oceans. In other words, to remove 2.2 ppm of CO₂ from the atmosphere, would require the annual capture and sequestration of 4.55 ppm of emissions, or 35.5 billion tons of CO₂, a clearly impossible ask for CCS.

Producing natural gas is expensive, but allows industry to function and makes a profit. Existing subsidised CCS technology is not fit for purpose, it cannot ‘save the planet’, and even if it could, it would reduce the greening of the planet and associated crop yields that have accompanied the increase.

Planning the accumulation, storage, transportation, compression and injection of CO₂ is all very well, and will give employment to geologists and engineers, but how feasible is it in helping achieve a ‘net zero carbon’ world, whatever that means? The average annual increase in atmospheric CO₂ since 2000 (Y2K), is around 2.2 ppm, or 17,160 million tons[3], or 8,680 BCM (billion m³) of CO₂[4], more than double the total world production of natural gas in 2020.[5][6]

In addition to these three problems, the results from seven separate projects listed below does not bode well for the future of CCS to significantly reduce atmospheric CO₂ by just the 7,800 million tons needed to capture 1 ppme of emissions.

Project	Operator	Country/Basin	10⁶ tons CO₂ pa	10⁶m³CO₂ pa
Gorgon Field	Chevron[7]	Offshore West Australia	3.9	2,160
Sleipner Field	Equinor[8]	Norwegian North Sea	~1	556
Planned	UK GOV[9]	Onshore UK	10	5,562
CO2CRC	Victorian Gov[10]	Otway Basin	0.065	36
Fort Nelson	BC Govt[11]	B C Canada	2.2	1,225
Quest	Shell[12]	Canada	0.7	390
Direct Air Capture	Government[13]	Iceland	0.004	2

In addition, CO₂ is highly corrosive of standard oil field tubulars and storage vessels, and much more so if it has to be compressed, or if H₂S is present; it is an altogether huge expense for a very small and very doubtful return.

[1] JPT March 2022 https://spe.widen.net/s/p89brwspkv/jpt_2022-03?mkt_tok=ODMzLUxMVC0wODcAAAGC4wnojlR1W49lHbHnUOwcgtZGW6Kdge3wmRg7SXaQiwScDfviU2jF8-9x0XRDcObbgfpTgKqoiAnfeNsMnxkSgtRAu6yoGe4n_r1lbAuh7OSU

[2] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

[3] 2.13 GtC or 7.8 GtCO₂ = 1 ppme

[4] Volume of one ton CO₂= 22,730moles × 24.47L/mole = 556,200L = 556.2m³

[5] (3,854 BCM: BP energy year book 2021).

[6] https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-density-d_158.html

[7] https://keyfactsenergy.com/news/16083/view/

[8] Sleipner carbon capture and storage project | Institution of Civil Engineers (ice.org.uk)

[9] https://www.great.gov.uk/international/content/investment/sectors/carbon-capture-usage-and-storage/

[10] http://www.zeroco2.no/projects/otway-project

[11] Fort Nelson Gas also has H2S

[12] https://www.rt.com/business/546779-carbon-capture-shell-emissions/