The global carbon nation: Status of CO₂ capture, storage and utilization

University of Illinois at Chicago - IL, USA and Energy Initiative - Erice ( TP), Italy

Published online: 24 July 2017

Abstract

As the world transitions toward cleaner and more sustainable energy generation, Carbon Capture and Sequestration/Storage (CCS) plays an essential role in the portfolio of technologies to help reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The projected increase in population size and its resulting increase in global energy consumption, for both transportation and the electricity grid —the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, will continue to add to current CO₂ emissions levels during this transition. Since eighty percent of today’s global energy continues to be generated by fossil fuels, a shift to low-carbon energy sources will take many decades. In recent years, shifting to renewables and increasing energy efficiencies have taken more importance than deploying CCS. Together, this triad —renewables, energy efficiency, and CCS— represent a strong paradigm for achieving a carbon-free world. Additionally, the need to accelerate CCS in developing economies like China and India are of increasing concern since migration to renewables is unlikely to occur quickly in those countries. CCS of stationary sources, accounting for only 20% reduction in emissions, as well as increasing efficiency in current systems are needed for major reductions in emissions. A rising urgency for fifty to eighty percent reduction of CO₂ emissions by 2050 and one hundred percent reduction by 2100 makes CCS all that more critical in the transition to a cleaner-energy future globally.