Carbon capture and storage is not the answer?

Carbon capture and storage seems to be counterproductive, expensive and time consuming, and potentially just storing up problems for the future? It seems whilst the government is encouraging us all to spend our own resources insulating our homes, fitting energy saving double glazing and energy efficient heating systems to our properties, the way it plans to generate energy in the future could do with being significantly more efficient itself!

The following concerns raised by Professor Robb were published on news.scotsman.com on 29th April 2009. “The ministerial statements and press reports about carbon capture and storage (CCS) omit all references to the disastrous effects this technology has on the efficiency of the generating plant. Compressing gas and injecting it into geological strata at great depths is so energy-intensive that the efficiency of the power station will be almost halved. So almost twice as much coal or gas will be needed to produce the same amount of electricity.”

“Engineers have been struggling to squeeze every tiny extra drop of energy from coal and gas, and households are insulating, double glazing and installing more efficient heating systems. Meantime, politicians gloss over how incredibly wasteful CCS really is. I know of no more wasteful way of generating electricity. Is it not time for politicians to take a short course in thermodynamics before they waste all our cash and natural resources on such hare-brained schemes?” (Professor Fenton F Robb of North Street, Eyemouth, Berwickshire - News.Scotsman.Com)

Clearly there can be a difference between being seen to be going green and actually being green. We need to face the fact that the UK may not be able to produce only green energy, and it is clear we are going to have to burn more coal if we want to keep the lights burning. We do need to invest faster and more heavily in effiecient renewable energy resources, such as wind farms and tidal barriers. These may be expensive, but with our country’s natural resources running out and the demand for electricity rising all the time, politicians are facing some hard choices to ensure there is enough energy to enable folk to heat their homes and keep even our energy efficient light bulbs glowing in the future.