What is CCS?

CCS is a technology to prevent large quantities of carbon dioxide or CO₂ (a greenhouse gas) from being released into the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuel in power generation and other industries. The technology involves:

• collecting or capturing the CO₂ produced at large industrial plants using fossil fuel (coal, oil and gas);
• transporting to a suitable storage site; and finally,
• pumping it deep underground to be securely and permanently stored away from the atmosphere in rock.

 

The Climate Change Challenge

Long-term monitoring has shown that the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing due to human activity. This is causing the earth to warm and the oceans to become more acidic.