Technologies for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

A thorough assessment

In August, the German Federal Environment Agency released its report "Assessment of Technologies for CO₂ Capture and Storage". The report presents the results of a research project conducted by the Fraunhofer-Institut in Karlsruhe.

Capture, transport, storage

The report compares the three main technologies for capture: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture, and oxy-fuel combustion. It also investigates the consequences of CO₂ capture on the emissions, efficiency, and operational cost of power stations, and it analyses the impact of CO₂ transport to the storage site. Finally, various possibilities for long-term storage were studied. Particular emphasis was placed on storage in gas fields and saline aquifers, since those are the most promising options in Germany.

A bridging technology, but not "sustainable"

The main conclusion of the report is that power plants with CCS technologies are not sustainable energy producers. The main disadvantages of CCS are that it significantly reduces the efficiency of the power plant and that the available storage capacity in Germany would only be sufficient for about 50 to 100 years. However, CCS could conceivably be a bridging technology until renewable energy sources are sufficiently developed to be widely available at reasonable cost.