The need to address climate change has never been more important, and Alberta’s growing carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) sector is a critical tool for reducing global greenhouse gases. Even with the ever-increasing adoption of CCUS, there are some misconceptions about the sector. Here are some of the most common arguments against CCUS, and why they’re flat out wrong.
Myth 1: CCUS is Unproven and Unsafe
The reality: CCUS has been used safely and effectively since the early ‘70s. Around the world, 41 large-scale facilities are successfully operating, with the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line being the world’s largest.
In terms of storage, the safety of CCUS technology has been proven. Over almost half a century, continuous monitoring demonstrates that carbon dioxide (CO2) can be stored safely in deep geological formations, through a process that mimics how oil and gas have been trapped underground for millions of years. Captured CO2 is compressed and injected deep beneath the earth’s surface into a reservoir of porous rock located under an impermeable layer (known as a caprock). Shale is a typical caprock which acts as a seal. The CO2 is prevented from migrating to the surface by the caprock as well as other “trapping mechanisms” related to how the CO2 behaves in the subsurface.
Both the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA)—the world’s leading autonomous environmental and energy bodies—endorse CCUS as a proven technology to lower greenhouse gas emissions around the world, and expansion of CCUS projects is seen as critical to the world meeting its greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Myth 2: CCUS Primarily Benefits the Oil and Gas Industry and Enables Fossil Fuel Industries to Continue Business as Usual
The reality: First and foremost, CCUS is not limited to natural gas and oil. It is a climate change mitigation technology which can capture CO2 generated by a broad range of industries. All high carbon-emitting industries—transportation, agriculture, oil and gas, steel, cement-making, pulp and paper, power generation, manufacturing and others—need a broad slate of clean technologies to be able to address emissions.
Furthermore, in addition to being permanently and safely stored underground, captured CO2 can be used to create numerous beneficial, non-energy-related products. Currently, CO2 is primarily used in the fertilizer industry and for enhanced oil recovery, but new uses are emerging and gaining momentum such as producing CO2-based synthetic fuels, chemicals and building aggregates.
Myth 3: We Should Focus on Renewables Instead of Spending Time and Money Developing CCUS
The reality: It will take all the tools in our toolbox to achieve our net-zero emissions goals globally. CCUS and renewables are partner technologies working towards the same decarbonized objective. CCUS complements renewables by reducing emissions in industries unable to use renewables. The IPCC confirms that CCUS is the only mitigation technology able to tackle emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, like cement, steel, chemicals, fertilizers and plastics.
In addition, the IEA says that CCUS can support the decarbonization of other parts of the energy system, such as industry, trucks and ships.
“Renewables alone can’t resolve the net-zero emissions challenge,” said analysts with Wood Mackenzie, the leading global provider of data and analytics solutions for the renewables, energy and natural resources sectors. “We have to think in terms of carbon avoidance and carbon removal. That means accelerating the upscaling of carbon capture and storage, starting now.”
Myth 4: There’s Insufficient Underground Storage Capacity for C02
The reality: According to the IEA, the world has ample CO2 storage capacity. Detailed geological surveys have been undertaken in many countries—including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Norway and the UK—where potential storage sites are well defined and well documented, and many other countries with appropriate geological conditions are progressing their studies.
A 2015 analysis by the Global CCS Institute also concluded that substantial industrial-scale geological storage resources for CO2 are present in most key regions of the world. The available capacity is more than enough to support widespread CCUS deployment.
Myth 5: CO2 Storage Sites Are Not Monitored After Project Completion
The reality: Storage of CO2 in the province is overseen by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), including the requirements for closing storage sites. When a company finishes putting CO₂ safely underground, the site’s liability transitions from the operator to the Government of Alberta. CCUS operators pay into the Post-Closure Stewardship Fund to offset costs associated with the long-term monitoring and maintenance of the site.
The International CCS Knowledge Centre explains the transition: First, the site must meet all regulatory closure criteria, including successful CO₂ injection and monitoring, sealing of injection wells, and implementation of post-closure monitoring plans. Once these requirements are met and regulatory approvals are obtained, the province assumes responsibility for the long-term liability of the site.
Myth 6: C02 Is Natural and Necessary, Making Its Removal from the Atmosphere Dangerous
The reality: It’s true that carbon is one of the most important elements for life on Earth, second only to water. According to MIT’s Climate Portal, atmospheric CO2 levels of between 280 and 350 parts per million created the climate that let humanity build and feed the modern world. Years ago, natural sources of CO2, such as forest fires, decomposing organic material, animals and volcanic activity, were offset by natural processes that clean the air, like photosynthesis in plants and absorption in water. In other words, the Earth naturally maintained a balanced state of net-zero emissions.
In today’s world, however, the global increase in emissions far outpaces the capacity of natural processes to achieve that ideal atmospheric balance. That is why technologies like CCUS are crucial to achieving environmental targets in Canada and around the world.
Myth 7: CCUS Causes Earthquakes.
The reality: CO2 injection does have the potential to cause microseismic activity in the same way as other customary engineering activity, including mining, dam construction, and oil or gas development. These microseismic occurrences are detected through continuous monitoring by government-funded public institutions. They are of such low magnitude, the microseismicity cannot usually be felt on the surface of the earth. A small subset that are of larger magnitude may feel like the vibrations inside a house from a heavy truck passing nearby. The meticulous characterization of CO2 storage sites to identify and understand below-ground stress and pressure conditions will be one of the factors in selecting the most appropriate injection site. It is also worth noting that the injection and geological storage of CO2 in conventional oil and gas fields or in deep saline formations, does not require hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’.