Carbon Capture and Storage

Overview & Synopsis

Climate change is one of the main threats to modern society. This phenomenon is associated with an increase in greenhouse gas (GHGs, mainly carbon dioxide—CO2) emissions due to anthropogenic activities. The main causes are the burning of fossil fuels and land use change (deforestation). Climate change impacts are associated with risks to basic needs (health, food security, and clean water), as well as risks to development (jobs, economic growth, and the cost of living). The processes involving CO2 capture and storage are gaining attention in the scientific community as an alternative for decreasing CO2 emissions, reducing its concentration in ambient air. The carbon capture and storage (CCS) methodologies comprise three steps: CO2 capture, CO2 transportation, and CO2 storage. Despite the high research activity within this topic, several technological, economic, and environmental issues as well as safety problems remain to be solved, such as the following needs: increase of CO2 capture efficiency, reduction of process costs, and verification of the environmental sustainability of CO2 storage.