Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeSadly, Australia still heavily relies on fossil fuels for electricity...
It's easy to forget how rampant fossil fuels still are as Australia's energy source with so much headway being made with renewable energy around the world. And while we keep driving petroleum guzzling cars, wearing synthetic fabrics, or even watching television, the market for fossil fuels, unfortunately, will not easily end.
This is where carbon capture and storage (CCS) comes in – it prevents carbon emissions directly at the source from entering the Earth's atmosphere.
The process mimics the natural process of oils and gases stored in pore spaces for millions of years.
The potential storage sites are extensively researched and the CO2 plume is carefully monitored via computer modelling once injected into the rock.
It's also important to realise, however, that CCS is not a means to an end. It is not a substitute for renewable energy as above all, power from coal and oil is not sustainable.
The process seems a little counter intuitive, like sweeping dirt under a rug. In fact, it is unsurprisingly and aggressively advocated by coal companies, such as The Australian Coal Industry's Coal 21, who has invested more than 300 million into CCS, with additional funding from the Australian and Victorian Governments. CCS should not become an excuse to continue opening new mines, as its purpose to reduce carbon emissions will become obsolete and the environment will continue to suffer.
But for now, renewable energy and CCS will need to work together if the global temperature increase is kept below two degrees Celsius.
Geomicrobiologist from the University of Melbourne, Dr John Moreau, explained that,“It’s conceivable that renewable energy and CCS must work together until the scale of energy derived from renewable sources can compete with more traditional sources. This would, of course, be easier to achieve if energy demands were reduced...”- Dr John Moreau
CCS is already active around the world, and is now becoming more widespread across Australia. Near Port Campbell in Victoria is Australia's first carbon dioxide geological storage site, run by a CCS organisation, CO2CRC. Already, it has stored more than 65,000 tons of carbon dioxide approximately 1500 metres deep under the surface.
With the technological demands of the Earth's growing population, it will take many years for renewable energy as the predominant source of power to be fully established.
But of course, CCS is not the solution to the climate change fiasco we've all been waiting for – it is something that may help to reduce carbon emissions faster in the short to medium foreseeable future.
Anything that receives such vigorous championing by the coal industry is probably not great for humanity in the long run.
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