Carbon Capture

A concise overview of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), a promising but overlooked climate change mitigation pathway. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2), and these CO2 emissions are a major driver of climate change. Carbon capture offers a path to climate change mitigation that has received relatively little attention. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Howard Herzog offers a concise guide to carbon capture, covering basic information as well as the larger context of climate technology and policy. Carbon capture, or carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), refers to a suite of technologies that reduce CO2 emissions by "capturing" CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere and then transporting it to where it will be stored or used. It is the only climate change mitigation technique that deals directly with fossil fuels rather than providing alternatives to them. Herzog, a pioneer in carbon capture research, begins by discussing the fundamentals of climate change and how carbon capture can be one of the solutions. He explains capture and storage technologies, including chemical scrubbing and the injection of CO2 deep underground. He reports on current efforts to deploy CCS at factories and power plants and attempts to capture CO2 from the air itself. Finally, he explores the policies and politics in play around CCS and argues for elevating carbon capture in the policy agenda.

This book approaches the energy science sub-field carbon capture with an interdisciplinary discussion based upon fundamental chemical concepts ranging from thermodynamics, combustion, kinetics, mass transfer, material properties, and the relationship between the chemistry and process of carbon capture technologies. Energy science itself is a broad field that spans many disciplines -- policy, mathematics, physical chemistry, chemical engineering, geology, materials science and mineralogy -- and the author has selected the material, as well as end-of-chapter problems and policy discussions, that provide the necessary tools to interested students.

This book approaches the energy science sub-field carbon capture with an interdisciplinary discussion based upon fundamental chemical concepts ranging from thermodynamics, combustion, kinetics, mass transfer, material properties, and the relationship between the chemistry and process of carbon capture technologies. Energy science itself is a broad field that spans many disciplines -- policy, mathematics, physical chemistry, chemical engineering, geology, materials science and mineralogy -- and the author has selected the material, as well as end-of-chapter problems and policy discussions, that provide the necessary tools to interested students.