Deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage: Insights, Case Studies and Key Learnings - Chapter 1: Introduction to carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a proven technology currently deployed in 27 facilities worldwide with a total capture capacity of nearly 40 million tons of CO2 per year. This chapter sets the scene for the whole book as to why CCS is being deployed to mitigate climate change and highlights why there has been a dramatic increase in the number of projects under development in recent years. The global targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction are ambitious, and the scale to which we will need to abate CO2 emissions is no small undertaking. Our current energy systems and the associated networks are complex. CCS is going to be a key technology to allow us to transition from the energy sources we currently rely on, but the role it will play and the scale to which it needs to be deployed will vary greatly by country, and even region. This introductory chapter explains why CCS is being deployed, where it is being deployed, and why it is important in the context of the Pairs Agreement and provides insight into the sustainability of the CCS chain.