CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ELECTRIC POWER SECTOR – OVERVIEW OF THE RELEVANT SITUATION

Abstract

In the next half century, fossil fuels will be used extensively and the CO2 emission will increase unless new energy policies are put through. There are numerous possibilities for the reduction of the CO2 emission from the energy systems. These include the improvement of energetic efficiency and the switch to renewable and nuclear energy. However, the policy based on these options will, in the best case, solve the problem only partially. Carbon dioxide capture, isolation and storage technologies constitute the second, promising option which can drastically reduce these emissions. Because of that, carbon dioxide capture, isolation, transport and storage have been studied for years. Numerous concepts have been proposed, often of speculative nature- products of abstraction, far from experience and practice. Many of these require great research and developmental efforts before commercialization. Significant progress accomplished in the last ten years enabled some complex technological solutions to come close to commercial application. This article enables a short overview of the relevant situation in carbon dioxide capture, isolation, transport and storage, which could be widely used in the electric power sector two decades from now.