Watch the Carbon Capture and Storage video
Fossil fuel power stations and other industrial sources account for more than 65% of global CO2 emissions
Will you help us reduce global CO2 emissions to protect our environment?
The issue
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are expected to double by 2050. There are many challenges associated with developing renewable energy technologies that can meet global energy demands.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology captures CO2 from fossil fuel power stations and other industrial sources, separates it from other gases and feeds it via pipelines to deep offshore underground storage. CCS is critical if fossil fuels are to be part of any future secure energy supply.
Our solution
The University and the British Geological Survey (BGS) have established a collaborative research centre, bringing together geological and engineering expertise.
This centre makes us ideally positioned to develop safe, efficient and cost-effective CCS technology and to influence governments, industry, academic and non government organisations, to achieve commercial-scale delivery of CCS.
Our impact
The technology could see a reduction of between 1.5bn and 4bn metric tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030 - roughly equivalent to 100 to 200 times the annual emissions from Drax, the UK’s largest power station.
This will allow society to carry on using fossil fuels until renewable energy can replace them. Extra funding will help us to advance our research to speed up the development of safe, efficient and cost-effective CCS technology.
Commercial-scale delivery of CCS will significantly reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, easing global warming and protecting our environment from climate change.
What will your Impact be?
Your support for Carbon Capture and Storage will make a genuine difference. We need to act now to ease global warming and secure our future energy supply.
Quotes
CCS technologies are considered an essential bridge between our present fossil energy and a future renewable-based energy. They have the potential to reduce the overall cost of limiting the effects of climate change and increase flexibility in cutting our CO2 emissions.
Professor Maroto-Valer, Head of Energy and Sustainability Research Division, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham
CCS has a key role to play in ensuring that we can keep the lights on at the same time as fighting climate change. There can be no solution to climate change and energy security globally without CCS.
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, UK (March, 2011)