Capture

Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, is a process that will allow industries that emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) to both maintain their business plans and reduce CO₂ emissions by using special equipment to remove the CO₂ from their facilities’ exhaust before it reaches the air. Once captured, the CO₂ can be transported by pipeline to an underground storage area for safe and permanent storage. The same type of solid layers of rock that have kept oil and natural gas locked underground for millions of years can safely store CO₂.

Capturing CO₂ commonly involves trapping a facility’s exhaust, filtering the exhaust and separating the CO₂ from the other gases created from the manufacturing process.  Once it is separated, the CO₂ can be treated, compressed and placed into a pipeline for transport.

According to the Global CCS Institute’s 2022 Global Status of CCS Report, as of September 2022, there were 30 carbon capture plants in operation around the world with a capacity to capture nearly 43 million tons of CO₂ per year, with another 164 under construction with a capacity to capture nearly another 200 million tons of CO₂ per year.