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Capturing carbon
Many people are concerned that carbon emissions from human activities are causing the Earth’s temperature to warm up. There is scientific debate about this, however, some scientists from New Zealand think it is a good idea for various industries to have as little emissions as possible. Where things like carbon (usually as carbon dioxide – CO2) are emitted they want to have some way of capturing this carbon and storing it deep underground using a process called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This is particularly important for the energy industry where carbon is emitted when coal or gas is used to make electricity. Some times we have to make electricity using these resources as we can’t get enough electricity from our existing hydro lakes or wind power. It doesn’t always rain enough to fill the hydro lakes and sometimes the wind doesn’t blow to power turbines. Also, New Zealand has vast reserves of coal and in the future we might want to make hydrogen from coal to fuel our cars, and when hydrogen is made this way it creates leftover carbon which needs to be stored.
Scientists from GNS Science, CRL Energy and the University of Auckland have been studying the geology of the Taranaki and Waikato regions to work out where carbon can be stored. These regions have been selected as they have suitable basin geology. The scientists will determine if these basins are suitable and calculate what risks might be involved in storing carbon this way. The scientist will also have to work out if the technology is available to New Zealand to collect, transport, inject, store and monitor the carbon long-term and how much it might cost to set up.
Dr Trevor Matheson, General Manager of Operations at CRL Energy, says it is important to understand the geology of each potential storage site. “Carbon can be injected into many possible types of reservoirs such as unused coal beds, porous (full of holes) geology or even underground stored water, but potential reservoirs must have the right type of seal rock and they can’t have possible migration routes, such as big fractures, the carbon can escape through. I’m very pleased that such a project is underway in New Zealand; this is a real opportunity to reduce the impact of fossil fuel use and industrial processes on greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. A number of countries are already running successful carbon capture projects and are sequestering millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year – playing an essential role in the response to climate change. In addition, the research strengthens our ties across the Tasman where investment in CCS by industry and Government is in the order of $3 billion.”
Financial support for the programme is being contributed by both industry and the Government, with contributions of $1.4 million per annum for three years from the following:
- Foundation for Research and Technology (FRST)
- Crown Minerals
- Coal Association
- Solid Energy;
- L&M Mining
- Genesis Energy, (who have coal-fired and gas-fuelled power stations at Huntly which the Government has instructed must be kept operational for back-up power supply).
