Carbon capture research focuses on absorbents
Research on carbon capture in the UK is focusing on the abilities of various carbon-based materials to absorb the carbon dioxide from flue gases. Sam Shead reports
The need to reduce carbon emissions in a bid to negate the impacts of climate change are only too apparent but there has yet to be a single country that has been able to neglect the carbon-emitting fossil fuels the world has become so dependent on.
Renewable energy sources are out there in abundance but the truth of the matter is they aren’t yet efficient enough to compete with relatively low priced fossil fuels. According to a report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the price of producing electricity from a gas power station is 2.2p per kWh, while the price of electricity from an offshore wind farm is 7.2p per kWh.
Until the price of renewable energy is reduced, or their efficiency is increased, there will remain a need to harness the carbon emitting power plants, of which there were 351 in operation in the UK at the end of May 2011. In the short term, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies could hold the answer.
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