President's Page: Leading the way to a carbon-neutral world

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are expanding at lightning speed as the world increasingly embraces the need for a carbon-neutral future. As it is described on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) website, “CCUS is a process that captures carbon dioxide emissions from sources like coal-fired power plants and either reuses or stores it so it will not enter the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide storage in geologic formations includes oil and gas reservoirs, unmineable coal seams and deep saline reservoirs — structures that have stored crude oil, natural gas, brine and carbon dioxide over millions of years” ( https://www.energy.gov/carbon-capture-utilization-storage ). The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that “CCUS is the only group of technologies that contributes both to reducing emissions in key sectors directly and to removing CO2 to balance emissions that are challenging to avoid – a critical part of “net-zero” goals. After years of slow progress, new investment incentives and strengthened climate goals are building new momentum behind CCUS” ( https://www.iea.org/reports/ccus-in-clean-energy-transitions ).