A carbon capture and storage facility has been built at the Schwarze Pumpe coal-fired power plant in Germany. The facility is built as a test to see how well the technology work and will be ran as a pilot project over 3 years. Another test facility will be built in France next year.
The carbon capture and storage facility uses a technique where coal is burned in pure oxygen and CO2 instead of regular air. This results is a by product of almost pure CO2 that can be collected and stored underground. The test facility in Germany is expected to capture up to 100,000 tons of CO2 each year. The CO2 is to be stored in a nearby gas field. The power plant the new carbon capture and storage facility has been built at produces 12 MW of electricity and 300 MW of thermal power which sustain about 1000 homes. The potential capture of 100,000 tons CO2 from this power plant alone might show the effect carbon capture and storage facilities might have on global CO2 emissions if they are found to be effective. Experts do however expect it to take a long time, at least 10 years, before this technology gains widespread use. Some experts also raise security concerns about the technology and the practice of burying large pure CO2 deposits underground.
It is claimed that this is the first carbon capture and storage facility in the world but I am unsure about this as Norway supposedly have been depositing CO2 underground for years. Anyone that can shedd some light on this is welcome to comment.