Imperial College researchers call for CCS investment

The Imperial College researchers claim that the UK is in a unique position to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems on a large scale. It has extensive oil industry expertise and a concentration of industries along the coast that are close to depleted offshore oil and gas reservoirs, which can store CO₂.

They suggest that a large-scale CCS network could be built along the east coast of the UK. This would use a pipeline network to carry CO₂ from industries to local storage facilities called hubs, which would pump the gas onwards to offshore underground reservoirs.

Humberside in the north of England is one place where a CCS network could work effectively. Humberside has several existing power stations that emit 60Mt of CO₂ per year. A pipeline network could pump emissions to hubs based in Humberside and on to underground reservoirs in the southern North Sea.

However, the researchers stress that there are still a number of obstacles to overcome before CCS can play a significant role in helping to mitigate climate change. More research needs to be done to improve current technologies for capturing CO₂ so that they use less energy and are more cost effective to run. The researchers also say that the UK government and industry needs to invest more money in research and development, so that rapid improvements can be made to CCS technologies.