Feb 10, 2025 11:30:42 am
Manhajul Islam, S. Ak - BATS Consulting
While Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies are considered as potential solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they have been widely opposed by environmental activists. They argue that CCS/CCUS not only fails to achieve the promised emission reduction targets, but also becomes an excuse for the fossil fuel industry to prolong its existence. The technology is costly, has complex technical challenges, and has the potential for long-term adverse environmental and social impacts.
(Source: Chevron)
The history of CCS projects shows various failures, such as that of the Gorgon CCS project in Australia, which had to add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs due to not meeting CO2 storage targets. Similar cases occurred in Algeria and Norway, where the injection of CO2 into the ground had to be stopped due to fears of leaks that could harm the environment. A report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) also shows that of the 13 large-scale CCS projects in the world, the total CO2 stored is only about 39 million tons per year, far short of the 36 billion tons of global emissions in 2021.
In addition to its ineffectiveness in reducing emissions, CCS also has the potential for serious environmental and health impacts. Injection of CO2 into the ground can increase water pressure, cause ocean acidification, and potentially trigger earthquakes due to uncontrolled geological movement. The risk of CO2 leaks can also be fatal to humans and animals, as happened in Mississippi, USA, in 2020 when a CO2 pipeline leaked, causing 200 people to be evacuated and dozens more to suffer carbon dioxide poisoning.
(Source: Chevron)
The irony is that although CCS has been developed since the 1970s, the technology is mostly used to increase oil production through enhanced oil recovery (EOR). By injecting CO2 into old oil fields, the fossil fuel industry increases oil and gas extraction, which in turn increases carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Data shows that more than 80% of the worlds CCS projects are used for this purpose, so instead of reducing emissions, CCS is prolonging the life of the fossil fuel industry and exacerbating the climate crisis.
CCS is also an energy-intensive technology, especially during the carbon capture and compression stages, which require significant energy consumption. On average, CCS projects increase a facilities energy requirements by 15–25%, adding to the fossil fuel load required for its operation. In addition, long-term carbon storage does not have sufficient legal certainty, as CO2 stored underground takes hundreds of years to stabilize, while the post-operation liability mechanism of carbon storage corporations remains unclear.
However, even though CCS technology has proven to be ineffective and risky, the fossil fuel industry still uses it as a pretext to continue its operations. Presidential Regulation No. 14 of 2024, which regulates the implementation of CCS and even opens the opportunity to import carbon from abroad to be stored in Indonesia, further strengthens dependence on fossil energy. This policy is not only environmentally risky, but can also be considered a form of waste colonialism, where developed countries dump their carbon on developing countries like Indonesia.
Given these problems, civil society organizations are urging the government to stop promoting and implementing CCS as part of its energy transition and climate change mitigation strategies. CCS is not an effective solution in reducing carbon emissions, but only a tool used by the fossil fuel industry to maintain its existence. The government should focus on developing more sustainable renewable energy, instead of relying on failed and high-risk technologies such as CCS.