Carbon storage on cards for SA

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PETROSA‘S gas and oil pockets offshore of Mossel Bay, which have been mined empty, and deep saline aquifers in the Karoo basin have been identified as potential sites where carbon dioxide (CO²) can be stored to limit the country‘s greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr Tony Surridge, senior manager of advanced fossil fuel use at the SA National Energy Research Institute (Saneri), yesterday said the impact of carbon storage on the environment had not yet been determined, which was why more research was needed.

Saneri is to establish a centre for carbon capture in April, and hopes to have an “atlas” identifying sites where CO² can be stored completed by next year. It also wants to set up a carbon storage demonstration plant by 2020.

The atlas study, costing almost R2-million, is being funded by PetroSA, Anglo-Coal, Eskom, Sasol and Saneri, while the carbon capture centre will be a partnership between private, public and international role-players.

South Africa, having a coal-based energy economy and infrastructure, has a high per capita CO² emission rate. About 89% of the country‘s energy needs are derived from fossil fuels, which account for 400 million tons of carbon emissions every year.

Saneri‘s investigation focuses on capturing CO² and storing it underground to mitigate the country‘s greenhouse gas emissions.

A study has shown about 60% of South Africa‘s carbon emissions can be captured and stored.

Saneri‘s preliminary studies indicate at least 100 gigatons of geological storage space could be available, mostly in deep saline aquifers and depleted gas or oil fields. These sites have more than four times the capacity to store 240 million tons of carbon per year for 100 years. The gas is captured, for instance from Eskom stacks, extracted and then piped to the storage site.

The pressure due to the site‘s depth changes the gas to a “super-critical liquid”, which is monitored to ensure it stays underground.