Carbon Capture Question: What Can We Do With All That CO2?

Carbon capture and storage technology is the trapping of carbon
dioxide from the exhaust of power plants that burn fossil fuels, and
its sequestration underground in such a way that it cannot reenter the
atmosphere. The amounts of CO2 proposed to be captured are enormous.
So, what can we do with all that captured carbon? According to a study
from Durham University in the United Kingdom, one of the best uses for
all that captured CO2 is using it to recover more oil.You read that
right. The recommendation is to use CO2 to recover additional amounts
of oil in the North Sea. The researchers project that over the next 20
years the UK could produce an additional 3 billion barrels of oil
using captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery. In other
words, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology could be deployed
to prevent millions of tons of CO2 emissions from entering the
atmosphere, and the captured CO2 could then be used to produce more
oil, the burning of which would lead to still more greenhouse gas
emissions.Although the idea sounds counterproductive-even crazy-to use
captured carbon dioxide to recover more carbon dioxide-producing
petroleum, there is a certain logic in operation. Using the captured
CO2 for enhanced oil recovery is an approximately carbon neutral
activity Roughly the same amount of CO2 is being put into the ground
as is being taken out in the form of oil. A further benefit is that,
for the United Kingdom, the additional oil produced in this way is
domestic production. Every barrel of oil harvested through this
enhanced oil recovery technique offsets a barrel that would otherwise
come from non-domestic sources such as the Middle East. Finally, the
additional supply of oil produced through carbon dioxide injection
will provide downward pressure on international oil prices.Time is of
the essence as well. As long as the oil fields are active, the
infrastructure to extract the oil is still in place. As production
from these oil fields declines and the oil fields are eventually
abandoned, the infrastructure will be removed and relocated, and going
back will likely be prohibitively costly.According to Professor Jon
Gluyas, Professor of CCS & Geo-Energy, Department of Earth Sciences,
Durham University, the additional recovery of oil from fields under
the North Sea can provide secure energy supplies for Britain for the
next fifty years. The United Kingdom would be self sufficient in its
energy production. A further benefit is financial. The taxes on the
oil produced would bring in about 60 billion pounds (approximately
$100 billion) to the UK Treasury.