Is CCS technically mature?
The separate elements of capture, transport and storage of carbon dioxide have all been demonstrated, but integrating them into a complete CCS process and bringing costs down remain a challenge. Several projects conducting initial research to explore options for demonstrating carbon capture and storage (CCS) for coal-fired power generation in China, namely the European Commission co-funded research projects COACH and STRACO 2, and the UK-funded Near Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) Assessment Project are due to conclude in autumn 2009. The biggest CO 2 storage projects that European companies are involved in are the Sleipner project in the North Sea (Statoil) and the In Salah project in Algeria (Statoil, BP and Sonatrach). Both projects involve stripping CO 2 from natural gas – a process which is already carried out before the gas can be sold – and storing it in underground geological formations. Other demonstration projects underway are the Vattenfall project at Schwarze Pumpe in Germany an
