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Twenty years after its first In the wake of the new millennium power
application, is CCS ready for
wide deployment, realizing companies entered the field of CCS with the
hopes for becoming a major
tool in mitigation of global target of expanding the use of coal for production
warming?
of electricity. Coal is relatively cheap and abundant
reserves are available in developed countries. Its
combustion generates a flue gas with high content
loefasCtOin2, making capture easier and cheaper (at
terms of $/ton) compared to other fossil
fuels. Governments quickly backed this effort and
considerable funds were made available to speed-
The idea opflacnatsptuwrihnegreCOfo2sfsriol mfuethlse effluent of up development and implementation of CCS. The
industrial are burnt
European Union took the leadership establishing
producing energy, and store it in deep geological an ambitious program for six large integrated
formations, bringing carbon back where it came demonstrations M(CWOo2 f captured corresponding
to at least 150 installed power) to be in
from, is both visionary and appealing.
Mitigation of global warming is the reason for a operation by 2015. This program has however
widespread application of CCS. Available data been gradually postponed through the years
clearly show that the mean temperature of the and most projects have been cancelled. Several
surface of our planet has increased over the past reasons contributed to this outcome, including:
100 years at an unprecedented rate, at least • research of novel capture technologies
considering the past 450,000 years. The growing was unable to achieve the expected cost
concern that this phenomenon may be caused reduction. CCS remains an expensive
by the emission into the atmosphere of huge technology. Even for the favorable case of
amounts of isCOex2pgreesnseeradteind by the combustion of coal, capture cost is in the ballpark of 50 $/
fossil fuels the periodical reports
ton ocfriCsiOs 2o; f
of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate • the western economies is delaying
Change (IPCC). The latest issue (2013) states adoption of stringent regulations which might
that “it is extremely likely that more than half of further decrease competitiveness in the
the observed increase in global average surface global market;
temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by • the mechanism devised by the European
the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas Community to fund CCS (or renewables)
concentrations …”. “Extremely likely” means a demonstrations is based on the revenues
probability higher than 99%. from the soaflethoefseCOce2 rteifmiciastseiosnquceicrktilfyicawteenst.
The value
Based on the above, implementation of CCS at
a large scale would be the only way to continue below 5 €/ton of rCaOng2,ewhhailde a stabilization in
the 20-30 €/ton been expected.
the use of fossil fuels in a sustainable way for our
planet. A progressive phase-out of fossil fuels The total amount of money collected by this
in favor of other forms of energy (renewables or mechanism makes funding of even a single
nuclear) is the only alternative. CCS demonstration difficult. The European
Community also requests a matching
A bit of history contribution by the Member State in which
the demonstration would be constructed.
Almost 20 years have passed since Statoil first As of today, only UK, among European
started geological storage of CoOf 2Sleoinpnaer,la1r6g0e countries, has approved a National Program
scale in the off-shore gas field
with consistent funding for CCS;
miles West of Stavanger in the North Sea. In that • strong opposition of local communities has
pioneering period R&D activities were mainly led been recorded almost every time EauroCpOe2.
storage project was proposed in
by oil companies with the expectation that the
development of novel capture technologies would This opposition is also affecting the political
result in very low costs for the application of CCS level, so that eight member states have not
(less than 10 $ per ton of captured CO2). accepted the European directive issued in
34 Impiantistica Italiana - Luglio-Agosto 2015
