Oilgae - Glossary

Carbon Capture and Storage - Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an approach to mitigate global warming by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Technology for large scale capture of CO2 is already commercially available and fairly well developed. Although CO2 has been injected into geological formations for various purposes, the long term storage of CO2 is a relatively untried concept and as yet (2007) no large scale power plant operates with a full carbon capture and storage system.

What is carbon capture and storage? - Carbon is emitted into the atmosphere (as carbon dioxide, also called CO2) whenever we burn any fuel, anywhere. The largest sources are cars and Lorries, and non-nuclear power stations - those that burn coal, oil or gas, otherwise known as fossil fuels.

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Carbon Capture: IGCC and TIPS - The capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide are critical enabling technologies to significantly reduce CO2 emissions while still allowing fossil fuels to meet the energy demands of today. This meeting will present a panel of experts who will describe current approaches to capturing CO2, including Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and ThermoEnergy Integrated Power System (TIPS) technologies.

A carbon dioxide (CO2) sink is a carbon reservoir that is increasing in size, and is the opposite of a carbon source. The main natural sinks are (1) the oceans and (2) plants and other organisms that use photosynthesis to remove carbon from the atmosphere by incorporating it into biomass. This concept of CO2 sinks has become more widely known because of its role in the Kyoto Protocol - Source