Carbon capture and sequestration have been about research and very little about actually putting the technology to real use. In this four-part series, we'll examine some of the issues and possible solutions.
But the question remains: How soon could we have the CCS methods implemented on a larger scale?
"It depends on the pace of investments. What's needed right now is to do some very large-scale integrated demonstration where you capture CO2, you generate electricity, you compress it and you transport it. You can show people that this is the way this technology looks when it's integrated together. You can get cost data. You can get reliability data. That's what is important," said the GCEP's Benson.
"We should be constructing these plants now and we shouldn't be talking about design. We can't wait. We've got to do this. This is the time," she said.
According to the IPCC, the cost ranges are spread out as such:
Cost Ranges for the Components of a CCS System
Source: IPCC
And here are the McKinsey calculations of a CCS reference case:

BP is injecting one million tons of CO2 into a reservoir located in In Salah, Algeria. The gas project will eventually store 17 million tons of CO2, which, says BP, is an emission reduction equivalent to removing four million cars from the road.
BP has also formed a $73 million joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences that will aim to bring technology from Chinese labs to the market. Projects will likely include carbon capture and sequestration.
Other CCS Projects So Far
Continue to Part III: New Ideas in Carbon Capture.
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