The first round of consultation for the Peak Cluster Carbon Capture and Storage project has begun. Follow the link for more details. The project aims to capture the CO2 produced as a by-product from cement and lime-making at four sites in Derbyshire and Staffordshire and then pipe it for long-term storage in depleted gas fields in the Irish Sea.
The project has already divided opinion. Some see it as the only way to decarbonise an essential industry in the timetable required to meet UK climate targets. Others argue for a more fundamental reshaping of the way we approach growth, or that there are cleaner alternatives to cement.
One potentially hard-to-understand issue is whether there is enough storage for the CO2 and, if so, whether it is safe.
In an attempt to help inform the discussion on that specific subject we’ve brought together some links to what evidence is already out there. The list does not claim to be comprehensive, nor has it been selected to advance one side or other of the debate.
Capacity
This recent research paper published in Nature seems pretty definitive and argues that safe storage is very significantly less than previously estimated but that CCS almost certainly will have a pivotal role in reaching climate targets.
Here is a summary by the report’s authors for Carbon Brief.....
This is a report on storage prospects from the CCS trade body which shows how much existing and planned capacity is associated with the hydrocarbon sector.
This UK Government paper lists some of the key UK storage projects.
This Imperial College database contains a register of existing storage worldwide.
Safety
A simple, if benign, introduction to the main potential sources of leaks.
A blog from Norwegian Research Institute SINTEF which draws on that country’s experience with offshore storage.
A paper on storage from the British Geological Society.
This highly critical paper from the Center for International Environmental Law touches on storage and safety.
This highly technical paper from the US National Academy of Sciences focuses on any risk that the process itself may cause seismic effects.
US Food and Water Watch’s blog deals with the experience in the US, where some of the same issues arise, but arguably in a very different context.
A blog from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel draws on research in the German North Sea.
This study by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory argues that it is possible to monitor for any CO2 leakage.
This paper from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Biology details the effect on one marine ecosystem of naturally occurring CO2 leakage.