RWE npower and E.on’s recent withdrawal from building new nuclear plants in the UK, coupled with last month’s ban on future onshore wind farms, means Britain’s energy sector will continue to burn fossilised carbon for many years to come.
In response to the resulting surge of interest in carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (CCS) techniques, ICE has commissioned and published a special issue (165 EN2) of its Energy journal on the subject.
CCS roadmap
The timely issue has been published in the wake of the government’s new ‘CCS roadmap’. Launched in April, this includes £1 billion of capital funding for early CCS-equipped power plants.
The ICE papers review the legislative framework for CCS, the capture-readiness of combined-cycle gas turbine plants, the monitoring of geological storage sites and project risk assessment.
Energy transition
While not a long-term solution, CCS provides a ‘transitional energy option on a pathway towards a decarbonised electricity future,’ says Geoffrey Hammond of Bath University. ‘The papers in this issue make an important contribution to the discourse on CCS.’
For more information please contact the ICE Proceedings editor Simon Fullalove at editor@ice.org.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7665 2448.