Carbon capture and storage (CCS) process

Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a technology that captures, transports and stores industrial CO₂ emissions so they don’t end up in the atmosphere.

It’s a three-step process: capture, transport and storage.

Capture technologies are fitted to a large emission source, which makes it possible to capture CO₂ emissions so they don’t end up in the atmosphere, where they would otherwise contribute to the conditions that cause climate change.

A chemical compound such as amine is used to capture up to 95% of the CO₂. The amine causes the CO₂ molecules to collect at the bottom of a separation tank. The leftover gas of mostly water vapor and nitrogen is then safely released. Meanwhile, the CO₂ molecules are heated to separate them from the amine compound.

Next, the CO₂ is compressed to behave like a liquid. A specially designed pipeline transports liquid CO₂ to a secure storage location. Here, it’s injected more than one kilometre underground into stable rock formations—a depth equivalent to about three stacked Empire State Buildings.

The formation we would inject the CO₂ into is located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the Basal Cambrian Sandstone geologic formation. It underlies large parts of Alberta and has great depth and multiple overlying layers of salt formations that act as seals to keep the CO₂ stored underground.

The proposed Pathways Alliance CO₂ transportation network and storage hub will have a multi-layered safety system based on decades of technical experience and scientific research.
  
It will also follow regulations set out by the Canadian Standards Association.