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What is carbon capture and storage (CSS)? How could this affect climate change initiatives?
Britain is investing $29 billion to capture carbon and store it beneath the Irish and North seas. The project faces enormous challenges, including high costs, operational risks, and potential impacts on marine ecosystems.
Keep reading to learn how carbon capture and storage in the UK will put them on track to reach net zero by 2050.
The Carbon Capture and Storage Method
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a method of preventing CO2 from entering the atmosphere by capturing it from industrial sources, transporting it to storage sites, and permanently storing it deep underground or beneath the ocean floor. The process looks like this:
- Capture: The CO2 is separated from other gases produced at power and cement plants, steel mills, and petrochemical facilities.
- Transport: The captured CO2 is compressed and relocated to storage sites via pipelines and ships.
- Storage: The CO2 is injected into deep underground rock formations, typically at depths of one kilometer or more.
International climate organizations view carbon capture as essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting climate targets. The ocean, which naturally absorbs 25% of human-produced CO2 emissions, offers vast potential for carbon storage. At depths beyond 3,000 meters, water pressure compresses CO2 until it becomes heavier than seawater, causing it to sink beneath the seabed. There, it dissolves in underground saltwater, gets absorbed by surrounding rocks, or transforms into solid minerals. The ocean’s vast capacity could potentially store between 4,000 and 10,000 gigatons of CO2—about 13 times the storage potential of depleted oil wells.
Carbon Capture in Britain
In October, the British government announced that over 25 years it would build carbon capture facilities in two industrial regions of Northern England. Major energy companies BP and Eni will lead the projects, which will capture emissions from high-polluting industries and store the gases in rock formations beneath the Irish and North Seas.
The facilities are scheduled to begin storing CO2 by 2028, with a target capacity of 8.5 million metric tons yearly. These projects are part of a larger UK initiative to capture and store 20-30 million tons of CO2 annually by 2030.
The government views this clean energy investment as a catalyst for economic growth. Officials expect the public investment to attract $10 billion (£8 billion) in private sector funding and create 4,000 jobs, supporting 50,000 more in the long term. They also anticipate operational costs to fall and government subsidies to decrease as the technology develops and more facilities come online.
| The Rise of AI and Emissions With the growth of AI, reducing emissions is more important than ever. US power demand is projected to grow by 2.4% between 2022 and 2030, with data centers accounting for 0.9 percentage points of this increase. In Europe, power demand could surge by 40-50% between 2023 and 2033, driven by data center expansion and broader electrification. This growth exposes contradictions between the stated goals and actual practices of both tech companies and utilities: Though tech giants have committed to eliminating emissions by 2030, they’re increasing their use of fossil fuels to enable their current expansion. Some utilities are delaying the phase-out of coal-fired power plants and extending the life of other fossil fuel facilities to meet data center energy needs, directly conflicting with clean energy transition plans. Even when tech companies incorporate renewable energy into their operations, they still drive increased fossil fuel usage: By purchasing the finite supply of available green energy, they force utilities to expand fossil fuel use elsewhere to meet overall demand. Tech firms contend that AI’s environmental benefits outweigh data center’s increased energy use, citing improvements in power grid efficiency and emissions monitoring. However, research shows that data centers’ emissions are over 660% higher than tech companies report, undermining these assertions. |
CCS Challenges
Storing carbon dioxide beneath the ocean presents significant cost barriers and operational risks. The expense of transporting and injecting CO2 offshore far exceeds that of land-based operations. The transportation process itself carries additional dangers, as spills during ocean transport can temporarily increase water acidity to dangerous levels. Even after successful storage, the oil and gas reservoirs used for CO2 storage require constant monitoring because the gas can escape.
However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that when storage sites are carefully chosen and monitored, CO2 buried beneath the seafloor can stay trapped for more than 10,000 years, with less than one-thousandth of one percent escaping annually.
CCS Risks and Concerns
Scientists warn that injecting CO2 into oceans increases water acidity, which prevents marine organisms like corals, lobsters, and phytoplankton from forming their shells and exoskeletons—structures crucial to their survival. The decline of these species, which serve as the foundation of marine food webs, could trigger broader ecosystem collapse. Environmental organizations further argue that carbon capture technology extends fossil fuel dependency rather than promoting cleaner alternatives—and does so at taxpayers’ expense.
What’s Next
The UK’s carbon capture and storage projects reflect a growing recognition that this technology must play a key role in future energy systems. Scientists emphasize that CCS is essential for hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement, steel, and chemical production, where renewable electricity alone won’t be sufficient for decades. Energy researchers predict that by 2030, the UK will be a leader in this technology and, combined with renewable electricity, on track to reach net zero by 2050.
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