Selected Carbon Capture & Storage Downloads

These are selected documents produced by the UK Government and other bodies that explain Carbon Capture and related topics.


Australia CO2CRC a large pilot project

This is a simple animation , to show the conceptual process.
Australia, in 2007, is the country most adavanced in proceeding towards a full-scale business, to show the money-making value chain of CCS linked to power stations. In the Otway Basin of southern Australia, natural CO2 gas will be extracted from a natural reservoir deep underground. The CO2 will be recompressed to form a liquid, and re-injected into a specially drilled borehole at 2,100 metres depth. During 6-9 months in 2007, about 100,000 tons of CO2 will be injected. This experiment will be closely monitored, to test that prediciton of CO2 behaviour run according to plan. Australia plans to develop a coal-fired power plant with CO2 storage on the coast of Queensland. Oil company Conoco plans to develop the worlds largest operation stripping CO2 from natural gas, and re-injecting the CO2 for storage at Gorgon, offshore NE Australia.

As part of the government's global strategy to address climate change, the 2003 Energy White Paper sets the target of a 60% reduction in UK emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2050, to about 240Mt (million tonnes) per year from 550Mt in 2000. Increased energy efficiency and use of renewable energy are the key mechanisms proposed to achieve this. However the White Paper suggests the continuing importance of fossil fuels to ensure security of electricity supplies. Using fossil fuels in a low-carbon economy requires their CO2 emissions be reduced. This POSTnote discusses the potential of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a method of carbon sequestration, to reduce UK and global emissions, and also the costs, environmental impacts and public perceptions of CCS.

Down to Earth, CO₂net report (723 kB)

4 page introduction to Carbon Capture and geological storage, authored by one of the main international networks of industry and academia

Rapid Climate Change, UK Government POST note 245 (147kB)

Climate change is a widely debated issue and a key focus of the EU and G8 this year. Policy responses so far have focused on steady changes in climate. Now growing evidence suggests that increases in global temperatures may lead to more rapid and irreversible shifts in the climate system. These could produce large changes in global weather patterns in only a few decades. The likelihood of such an event occurring this century is thought to be low, but the potential impacts are too high to ignore. While the uncertainties remain high, some evidence suggests that if emissions growth continues unabated, abrupt changes could be seen by the middle of this century. This POSTnote summarises current knowledge of rapid climate change and reviews possible policy options.


Clean Coal, UK Government POST note 253 (257 kB)

Climate change is high on the political agenda, gas and oil prices are increasingly volatile and concerns about nuclear power generation continue. Could 'cleaner coal' offer the perfect energy solution? Cleaner coal technologies (particularly those that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions) are at various stages of development. Advocates believe they hold the key to a secure and low carbon electricity mix. Critics are concerned that core technologies have not been fully demonstrated and that the barriers to implementation have been underestimated. This POSTnote examines the most prominent technologies and the issues surrounding their use.

Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (504kB)

A 2004 project at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester, has developed assessments of legal, techno-economic, geological, environmental and socio-political aspects of CCS