Warning that carbon capture not a silver bullet for climate change

Sleipner gas platform

Source: © Heidi Wideroe/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Report notes that several projects have failed and captured carbon dioxide is often used to recover more oil

A new report has cast doubt on the potential of carbon capture storage (CCS) to help the world transition to net zero. It says more CCS projects are underperforming than are successful because of issues with the technology and regulatory framework.

The report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) studied 13 projects involving CCS or CCUS, which use carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), for example. These 13 CCS/CCUS projects account for around 55% of capacity worldwide. It found that seven of the 13 projects underperformed, two failed and one was mothballed.