Carbon Capture Technology Not Ready to Limit Carbon Emissions - Essay Example

? Carbon Capture Technology Not Ready to Limit Carbon Emissions Dr.Shakeel [Pick the Introduction Carbon Capture technology or CCS is an important technology developed in recent years. Under the rubric of environmental sciences’ progressive work, this technology holds pivotal importance and this also makes it a significant debate these days. The pros and cons of CCS are widely discussed among environmental scientists and industrialists. As said before, CCS is a very novel technology so it is not yet fully developed; therefore it needs a lot of improvement and hence it is not much favored yet. Carbon capture technology is not ready to limit carbon emissions and there are a number of reasons behind that (Wilcox, 2012). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture technology is an important move for the storage and capture of Carbon Dioxide gas that is emitted on vast scale every day. This technology is basically a technique to minimize global warming by capturing CO2 from large carbon dioxide sources like power plants and afterwards storing it instead of releasing it directly into the atmosphere, which is harmful for environment. This technology is newborn and so it is not very effective or used on large scale worldwide, as yet. Efficiency concerns One of the main reasons of CCS’s not being ready for usage is that it is not fully developed and efficient. As already said above, this technology is yet in its early phase so it still needs a lot of improvement to be efficient enough for use on regular basis. As yet, the technology for capture of CO2 is available for large CO2 emitters only; however, capture is meaningless without storage because either it would go all wasted or it would again get released through some channel. Another flaw in CCS technology is that it is not free of leaks. This technology was mainly developed to store and capture Carbon Dioxide but unfortunately, this system is not free of leakages resulting in the leakage and escape of CO2 back into the environment. This makes CCS highly inefficient because the whole point of developing this technology was to capture and store CO2 safely. But in storage tanks or while transportation, there are various leakages and this makes it pointless. A very efficient and effective system is needed for the proper and flawless storage of Carbon Dioxide if this technology is to be used globally on large scale (Al-Fattah & Duncan, 2011). Storage Issues The storage of CO2, along with the capture, on the other hand, is a relatively a new concept and hence not very effective as yet. This makes CCS inefficient because there is no point of capture if there is no storage mechanism available for the technology. More recently, Carbon capture tanks have been developed and they are employed for storage but they are very expensive and not easy to develop, use and maintain (Hester et al, 2010). Energy consumption Issues Another reason for CCS’s not being ready for usage yet is the energy that it requires to run. The capture and compression of CO2 requires a lot of energy, and this result in raising the running costs of CCS-equipped power plants. The process results in the increase energy needs of a plant by about 10-40%. This extra consumption of energy has raised many eyebrows in industrial world because with this new technology, instead of improvement in their produce, they have to invest even more in this extra consumption of fuel. This is a very important obstacle that has kept industrialists from employing this technology in their systems (Hester et al, 2010). Cost related issues of the technology CCS is a very expensive technology and this is also a reason why it is not ready for usage on large scale. As this technology is in its experimental stages, it is not very economical. The equipment and plants made for CCS are very expensive both in building and in later usage. With the passage of time, this obstacle may be removed by employing cheaper techniques and materials for building and running CCS equipments but so far it is not possible and this is an expensive technology. Currently, it is estimated that the use of carbon capture technology results in a 30-60% increase in the cost of setting up an industrial unit. Moreover, the running costs are also not affordable for the vast majority of industrialists, since this reduces their profit margins considerably (Yenneti, 2011). CCS role in contributing to pollution An important factor that is a hindrance in the usage of this technology is that unfortunately it can result in pollution. This technology was developed basically to control Global warming but ironically it can result in becoming a cause of pollution itself. If CCS technology is used in oceans to capture and lock carbon dioxide inside the ocean, it can result in increasing the acidity of oceans. With increased acidity of the oceans, the world will obviously suffer in many ways. But above all it would result in destroying the natural habitat of marine life. This is a very serious concern that is raised against the usage of CCS in oceans. Conclusion In a nutshell, CCS is a very novel technology and as yet it is not flawless. There are many flaws in the system and operation of CCS and that is why it is not ready for use on large scale. With high fuel and energy consumption it becomes a very expensive technology. This makes it inefficient for large scale usage. Concerns regarding its role in promoting pollution have contributed towards making this development a controversial issue. For this reason, more effective and cost-friendly equipment should be developed aimed at reducing pollution in the environment. When effective technology is available, legislation to enforce application of this technology at industrial level may increase its demand on international level, so much so that the cost of equipment may get reduced. This will allow greater acceptability of the technology by industrial sector; thus contributing towards a healthier and green environment globally. It should be kept in mind that any technology in its nascent stages is far from perfect; as human knowledge evolves, the technology becomes a masterpiece. ReferencesTop of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Al-Fattah, S. M., & Duncan, I. (2011). Carbon capture and storage: Technologies, policies, economics, and implementation strategies. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Hester, R. E., Harrison, R. M., & Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain). (2010).Carbon capture: Sequestration and storage. Cambridge, UK: RSC Pub. Wilcox, J. (2012). Carbon capture. New York: Springer. /Yenneti, K. (2011). Carbon capture and storage – Is it really a cost-effective solution?Retrieved from http://climatetrack.wordpress.com/2011/04/ Read More