Carbon Capture and Sequestration Graham Friant and Rahul Ramanna

SustainabilityThe main goal of CCS is to increase the sustainability of the current

system of fossil fuel powered economies, until fossil fuels can be phased out of use or CO2 emissions are otherwise reduced

significantly. Carbon capture and sequestration isn’t a complete long term solution to CO2 emissions, rather it is part of a group of solutions needed slow down the rise in CO2 levels. The only real

long term solution is to drastically reduce CO2 emission from their current state.

Enhanced Recovery MethodsCarbon sequestration is a method of storing CO2

underground that also forces otherwise unobtainable oil to the surface. CO2 injection works by not only by adding

pressure to the well, but also mixing with the crude oil to make it lighter, more vicious, and helping it detach from rock surfaces. A similar method can be used to force natural gas

out of coalbeds. In this method CO2 is injected into unminable coal beds or coalbeds that are of to poor quality

to mine. As the price of oil increases this becomes increasingly cost effective

Oxy-fuelOxy-fuel is a technology that has revolutionized the capture stage of CCS. Oxy-fuel is the name for the

process of burning the fuel in 95% oxygen and recycled flue gas. Oxy-fuel limits the products of the reaction to

only carbon dioxide and water, making it much easier to sequester the CO2. The graphic below shows the oxy-fuel

process step by step.

Continues Rise Atmospheric CO2 LevelsCarbon dioxide levels fluctuate depending on the month and between years. Over the past 400,00

years CO2 levels have ranged between 180 ppm and 300 ppm. Recently atmospheric levels have risen to

400 ppm.

TransportationThe technology required to transport large amounts

of carbon dioxide isn't new, it only needs to be implemented. CO2 transportation is very similar to the pipelines used for natural gas transportation.

Once pipelines are created the process of transporting liquid CO2 from capture sites to

sequestration sites is fairly simple and cheap. SequestrationAfter carbon dioxide has been captured it must be dealt with. Carbon

sequestration stores captured CO2 deep underground, around 800 meters. The main benefit of this method is that it actually removes

captured CO2 from the carbon cycle. Certain types on formations are required to store CO2 effectively, however, the U.S. Department of

Energy estimates that upwards of 20,000 billion metric tons of CO2 could be stored in the U.S. The main problem is that it is costly and needs to

be observed afterward to ensure there are no leaks.

EthicsSolving global warming is an ethical apriori issue because climate change

threatens the future of the human race. Rapid climate change could change the climate of earth making it no longer inhabitable, and

humanity is quickly approaching the point of no return for emissions. Solving global warming should be an important ethical consideration for

all future engineering projects.