The Con of Carbon Capture and Storage
Relying on carbon capture and storage to reduce emissions is like trying to empty a swimming pool with a thimble
There’s a lot of talk about carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The Federal Government loves it – Resources Minister Madeleine King called it the “single biggest opportunity for emissions reduction in the energy resources sector”. It sounds like it’s going great in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and, two years ago, it was time to apparently celebrate, “Fifteen years of CCS success in Victoria”.
WOW. So much success!
Back in 2004, The Australia Institute didn’t think CCS would be a goer, but maybe we were wrong?
Well, let’s check the numbers.
According to the Global CCS Institute, at the end of 2022 there were 30 operating CCS projects in the world.
The. Whole. World.
These projects could sequester a grand total of 42.6 million tonnes of CO2 under the ground each year.
If you know your emissions numbers, you know that’s not a lot. As the first graph shows it’s less than a 10th of Australia’s 2022 emissions.
Or to put it another way, the entire world’s CCS capacity could capture the emissions of three Australian coal-fired power stations in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.
Decades of government and industry support, many, many millions of taxpayer funds spent both here and throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia and what do we end up with? The entire globe’s CCS fleet is storing the emissions of Victoria’s Latrobe Valley power stations.
This sounds bad, but the reality is actually much worse.
This is nameplate capacity, not actual functioning capacity which tends to be much lower. As we discovered recently, the world’s biggest CCS plant operating off Australia’s north-west coast is running at a third capacity. Nameplate capacity also includes CCS projects that are designed for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). EOR projects get more oil out of depleted reservoirs and actually increase lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.
Let us just say it for what it is: CCS is a scam.
It is a scam that has been used by the coal and gas industries to con (usually willing) governments and populations into delaying climate action. It’s time this scam was called out for what it is by researchers, public service agencies, the media, governments and anyone interested in avoiding catastrophic climate change.
Related research
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Carbon capture and storage is a dangerous rort
There’s nothing politics loves more than a good rort or scandal, like the recent revelations of PwC’s misconduct, which is finally throwing a spotlight on the vast tentacles of the big four consulting firms into the business of government. But it’s concerning that one of the biggest and longest-running rorts in climate change policy—carbon capture
Here are 23 Times Carbon Offsets Were Found to be Dodgy
Carbon offsetting has received a lot of attention recently. As businesses and governments look to meet their climate targets, many are turning to carbon offsets. That is, they are paying someone else to reduce or avoid putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, so they don’t have to.
How Labor out-loved the Coalition in its embrace of big oil and gas
“You know what you’ve been doing,” said Foreign Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Penny Wong, wagging her finger at the Opposition senators across the Chamber.