Carbon capture and storage works ­– and these projects prove it
The UK continues to be a global leader on climate action, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% on 1990 levels by the end of this decade. And carbon capture technology has been recognised as one of the key elements of the UK’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution to get us there, launched by the Prime Minister last month.

Drax Power Station is already trialling Europe’s first bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project. Combining sustainable biomass with carbon capture technology could remove and capture millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year and put the power station at the centre of wider decarbonisation efforts across the region as part of Zero Carbon Humber, a partnership to develop a world first net zero industrial cluster in the North of England.

But who else is making carbon capture a reality?

Snøhvit & Sleipner Vest

Who: Sleipner — Equinor Energy, Var Energi, LOTOS, KUFPEC; Snøhvit — Equinor Energy, Petoro, Total, Neptune Energy, Wintershall Dean

Where: Norway

Sleipner Vest offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant, Norway

Sleipner Vest was the world’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant. Active since 1996, it separates CO2 from natural gas extracted from beneath the sea.

Snøhvit, in Norway’s northern Barents Sea, operates similarly but here natural gas is pumped to an onshore facility for carbon removal. The separated and compressed CO2 from both facilities is then stored in empty reservoirs under the sea.

As of 2019, Sleipner had captured and stored over 23 million tonnes of CO2 while Snøhvit stores 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Petra Nova

Who: NRG, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA) and JX Nippon, a joint venture with Hilcorp Energy

Where: Texas, USA

In 2016, the largest carbon capture facility in the world began operation at the Petra Nova coal-fired power plant. However, the 240-megawatt project was interrupted in July 2020 when falling oil prices meant that Petra Nova was unable to find an economically sustainable way to deploy coal-based CCUS at scale.
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['Carbon Emissions', 'Carbon Capture', 'Climate Action', 'Innovation', 'Technology']