SA wants carbon capture operation in place by 2020

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SA WANTS to have a fully operational carbon capture and storage demonstration plant by 2020, according to the South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri), the government body responsible for energy research and development.

Carbon capture and storage — the separation of carbon dioxide from other gases to inject it into geological formations — is one of the ways of limiting carbon dioxide emissions. SA is a leading emitter of carbon dioxide, accounting for 40% of carbon dioxide emissions in Africa. SA emits about 400-million tons of the gas a year, representing 1% of global emissions, according to the Department of Minerals and Energy.

Speaking at a conference in Johannesburg yesterday, Tony Surridge, senior manager responsible for fossil fuels at Saneri, said such a centre would develop human and technical capacity in carbon capture and storage, a new field in SA .

He said the objective of the centre was to have an operational demonstration plant by 2020.

Saneri is developing SA’s carbon dioxide geological storage atlas, which Surridge said would be completed next year.

He said the use of fossil fuels, the largest source of carbon dioxide, was still set to increase, with power supplier Eskom building new coal-fired power stations. The average lifetime of a coal-fired power station is at least 40 years. Petrochemicals group Sasol plans to build an inland coal-to-liquid plant in Limpopo.

Surridge said carbon capture and storage could be used as a “transition measure until the shift to renewables and nuclear”.

He said costs of the exercise varied, with the capture phase being more costly, although research was being conducted into ways of lowering the cost . Estimates range from between $50 and $70 to capture a ton of carbon dioxide, he said.

Surridge said about 249-million tons or 61% of the carbon dioxide emissions in SA could be captured and stored. Most of these emissions came from the generation of electricity, industrial processes and manufacturing. The 39% of emissions which cannot be captured and stored came from waste, agriculture, transport and heat production.