A GROUP of 19 university researchers have given their thoughts on the possible solutions to the challenge of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The group, all PhD or post-doctoral researchers from as far afield as China, Australia, Korea and the US, have produced four technical papers they now hope will spur the discussion and further innovation in CCS.
These included looking at the potential to inject liquid CO2 into the deepest ocean pockets off China’s coast, designing options for floating thermal power (gas to wire) infrastructure with CCS injection systems and for a “green town” pilot city to showcase existing air extraction techniques to remove CO2, transporting it to offshore injection sites.
They also looked at how to inject CO2 into aging or depleted oil and gas reservoirs using offshore wind energy to power electric CO2 injection machinery.
“There is a growing industry consensus that CCS is part of the solution to global warming,” said Richard Sadler, chief executive officer, Lloyd’s Register, whose educational trust funded the project, based at the University of Southampton.
“What we also have come to realise is that the challenges facing its development are as much political and social as they are technical.”
All four papers were presented to a panel. After deliberating, it chose “Offshore Thermal Power With CCS: An Alternative To CO2 Transportation” as the winning presentation.
The concept, which envisioned using floating production storage and offloading model infrastructure, was found to have several benefits, including the ability to exploit stranded gas reserves, generate power without having to purchase land and the mobility to help supply to meet demand. Its most important benefit was its potential to eliminate the need to transport CO2 from the point of capture to the storage location.
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