Microseismic Monitoring and Geomechanical Modelling of CO2 - bris

APPENDIX B. IN SUPPORT OF CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
In Support of Carbon Capture and Storage
James P. Verdon
Ph.D Student
Centre for the Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Earth’s Interior,
University of Bristol, U.K.
May 20th, 2009
The need to generate electricity with minimal CO 2 emissions to reduce the impact of climate change
is almost universally accepted.
However, arguments still rage over the best way to achieve this.
Possible options include demand reduction and improved efficiency, nuclear power, renewable energy
and carbon capture and storage (CCS). It is on this last option, capturing of CO 2 at power stations and
storage in deep geologic strata, that this essay will focus. This technique has been brought into public
consciousness with the recent decision by the U.K. government to commission up to 4 large-scale CCS
demonstration projects. CCS is not a magic bullet that can provide the solution alone, and nor should
it be used as an excuse to continue burning fossil fuels at our current rates. However, I am convinced
that, when the energy needs of the world’s developing economies are taken into account, CCS must
have a role to play if we are serious about minimising the amount of CO 2 we emit. Nevertheless,
public awareness of this technique is limited, and public opinion of CCS is mixed, principally as a
result of criticism by environmental groups 1 . I will discuss the issues raised, and outline why CCS is
not quite the immature and unsafe technology that it is often made out to be.
The advantages of renewable energy sources are well documented, and so an important question
to ask is why shouldn’t the U.K. aim for an electricity generation mix centred on renewable energy
The U.K. is in a particularly good position to take advantage of renewable energy - we have abundant
wind and wave energy arriving on our west coast, while the Severn estuary has one of the largest tidal
ranges in the world. However, even if the U.K. were to wean itself off its dependency on fossil fuels
for electricity generation, the world’s climate change problems would not be solved. If global CO 2
emissions are to be controlled, then the key battlegrounds must be China and India.
Estimates of future energy demand 2 suggest that, of all the increases between now and 2030, almost
half will come from China and India. China is already the worlds largest emitter of CO 2 , while India
will be the third largest by 2015. At present, over 70% of the electricity generated in these countries
comes from coal. As these countries expand their economies to develop a Western standard of living,
so their energy demands will increase - in the case of India possibly by up to 4 times the current
demand. By 2030, China will have added more generation capacity than exists currently in the USA.
Given that there remains over 400 million Indians without electricity, and that CO 2 emissions per
person for both nations are still far lower than the west, ‘there can be no moral grounds for expecting
China and India selectively to curb their economic growth simply because world energy demand is
rising unacceptably’ 2 .
1 e.g., Rochon et al., 2008, Flannery, 2005, pp 249-257 and Bjureby et al., 2009
2 IEA World Energy Outlook, 2007, p3
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