Does Carbon Capture & Sequestration Make Our Planet Greener?

Marking our calendars for World Ocean Day on June 8th, we can’t imagine a better topic to talk about than Carbon Capture and Sequestering (CCS). An innovative waste management technique that uses the power of our majestic oceans to reduce carbon impact on the environment.

The ‘One Ocean, One Climate, One Future - Together’ mandate unites all our efforts to rescue the planet, with all resources pitching in. The vast, blue oceans in this context serve as absorbers and reservoirs of responsibly stored carbon emissions. 

But how are these emissions extracted and taken deep into the sea? When you think about sustainable practices, the first question that comes to mind is, ‘what makes Carbon Capture and Sequestration a viable solution?’

What is Carbon Capture and Sequestration?

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) are two complementing processes. The first refers to trapping carbon as soon as it is emitted, but before it reaches the atmosphere. Sequestration, on the other hand, extracts carbon emissions that are already present in the environment. 

Together, this sustainable carbon management technology reduces the presence of the gas by utilizing ocean beds as safe havens. Large amounts of carbon are captured, compressed into liquids, and transported via pipelines and tankers to designated Carbon Sinks.

Carbon sinks like forests, soil, and ocean bodies are areas that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for their own survival. However, due to the exponential rise in carbon emissions, as pointed out by the sustainable refurbished tech industry, the balance between emission and absorption has been upset for quite some time.

Actively drawing out carbon through CCS and depositing it in our oceans aims to speed up this process. Phytoplanktons, commonly known as microscopic marine algae and bacteria, are responsible for absorbing a quarter of all carbon emissions since the Industrial Revolution. 

World Ocean Day initiatives like an end to plastic pollution feed into prolonged carbon absorption by keeping our oceans healthy. A balanced ocean environment is key to ensuring carbon absorption and sequestration carries on at an accelerated pace.

Therefore, Carbon Capture and Sequestration takes top spot in the list of environmental solutions that can help reduce carbon emissions from devices like smartphones. 

The CSS Map - Global Carbon Capture and Sequestration Efforts

Some notable global efforts towards Carbon Capture and Sequestration include:

• In 2019, Australia pledged A$50 million towards CCS projects. In 2020 it increased this allocation to A$263.7 million for both, onshore and offshore capture and storage. Some prominent projects include those in Moomba, South Australia, the Darling Basin region in NSW, and Bonaparte Basin. 

• Between 2008 - 2018, Canada allocated $1.8 billion for CSS efforts. The most prominent programs include the Federal Government's Clean Energy Fund, Boundary Dam and Alberta's Carbon Capture and Storage Fund.

• The Abu Dhabi CSS Project in UAE aims to capture 0.8 million tons of carbon annually and use it for oil recovery processes. 

• The Petrobras Lula Oil Field in Brazil is an offshore facility capturing and storing 0.7 million tons of carbon every year. 

One Ocean, One Climate, One Future - Where is Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) Headed? 

The success of CCS on small scale samples has been notable. And to make it a mainstream technology in the sustainable and green space, CCS will gain the most from being added to the Inflation Reduction Act, which will reduce cost sensitivity associated with it. 

From acquiring large, expensive equipment to setting up the enormous facilities needed to carry out capture procedures, this law can be a monumental positive change in sustainability circles.

It's a critical step to ensuring countries around the world meet their net zero targets and are able to speed up the transition to renewable sources of power.