- Date: 10 January 2025
- Category: Small Business Guidance
You’ve probably heard the term carbon capture banded around a lot over the last year or so, and you wouldn’t be alone in not being completely sure what it is. As businesses and governments across the world grapple with how to reduce carbon emissions across the world, various options have presented themselves. Some are realistic, others not so much. And one of the more realistic options is that of carbon capture. But what exactly does that mean?
Carbon capture is the process of collecting and storing/destroying carbon emissions at various points during the carbon creation process. In effect, this would help reduce the carbon that damages the atmosphere and slowly start bringing the globe back to a place that is less dangerous climate-wise. And while Direct365 deals with different types of waste, we are the waste experts. So here we bring to you a comprehensive guide to everything there is to know about carbon capture.
What is Carbon Capture?
As we’ve explained above, carbon capture is a way to collect carbon that is disposed into the atmosphere and store it in a specific area, often a containment unit or deep underground. Carbon is a huge danger to our planet. 50% of the carbon pollution created between 1750 and 2010 was created since 1970. That shows just how urgent carbon treatment needs to be come.
There are a few types of carbon capture, so it’s best to discuss each one, and the merits for each, separately.
Post-Combustion
Describing post-combustion is probably the easier form of carbon capture to explain. This form of capture essentially captures the carbon after the combustion process. That means the process – usually creating fuel – happens and then the carbon is captured upon combustion process happening. This is seen as one of the most realistic ways for fuel companies to come and take responsibility for their actions when contributing to the climate crisis.
Pre-Combustion
This process is one that’s done before the fossil fuel is burnt. The fuel is partly burnt to create that carbon that can be extracted before the fuel as we know it is made. This method is particularly popular overseas, with Denmark, Norway and France, amongst other countries, using this method of reducing carbon impact from fuel sites in their country.
Oxyfuel Combustion
Oxyfuel combustion is one that’s slightly less straight-forward than the other two carbon capture. Usually, fossil fuels are burnt together with oxygen, but in this process, they’re burnt with air, which includes other chemicals. The result of this different process means extracting almost all of the CO2 out of the fuel, making it easily transportable. It’s true that companies that use this process are often referred to as ‘zero emission’, for the fact that this process is so successful at reducing CO2 emissions.
What are People Saying About Carbon Capture?
Carbon capture is seen in many different lights between many different groups of people. Naturally, it’s seen by governments as a great and impactful way of collecting carbon from the fuel creation process and ensuring it doesn’t harm the planet. But other parties, such as Greenpeace, say that carbon capture doesn’t nearly collect the levels of carbon needed from the environment, while also being much too expensive to execute at any wider-ranging level.
A special report from 2005 states:
“This report shows that the potential of CO2 capture and storage is considerable, and the costs for mitigating climate change can be decreased compared to strategies where only other climate mitigation options are considered.”
However, as Science Direct says, carbon capture is still an emerging technology, and it’s currently a struggle to get carbon plants at an industrial level. While, The Guardian makes a different case, saying:
“The argument against CCS, that it is unproven – aside from being incorrect – is circular. The IPCC says we need it; everyone, including our committee on climate change, agrees we need it for industrial processes. And if it were unproven we should quickly get on with proving it in the UK, while driving up efficiency and decreasing hydrocarbon extraction.”
It seems like some of the globes’ greatest minds are struggling to put an exact and convincing case forward for how this technology is placed in our bid for climate control.
Carbon capture is a technology that has been around for over 45 years. And while it does seem to be an expensive way of solving a problem, it’s maybe the case that it should be taken seriously but in the context of the wider climate strategy. While still an expensive and often inefficient process, the hope is that capture technology will evolve to become more refined and efficient, aiding us to turn the tide on the climate crisis.