The still distant promises of CO2 capture technologies

Along with efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, solutions are being tested to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is referred to as “negative emissions”. The closest to success is called BECSC, for “bioenergy with CO capture and storage”.₂“. The idea is to sustainably capture CO₂ trapped during the life of the plants, in particular by burning trees or agricultural crop residues in specialized factories, which produce electricity while recovering CO₂ in the smoke.

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“The main technological option is called “afterburner capture”, explains Daniel Quiggin, energy expert at the British think-tank Chatham House. It consists of passing the fumes through a solvent then, by heating the mixture, recovering the CO₂, concentrate it, liquefy it and pump it to geological formations. In Britain, the reservoirs of the oil and gas industry constitute theoretical sites…