The UK Carbon Capture and Storage Consortium (UKCCSC)

The UKCCSC is a consortium of 15 UK higher education and Institutes, including engineering, technological, natural, environmental, social and economic scientists. The Consortium is a way to rapidly expand a UK research capacity in the area of carbon capture and storage, commensurate with the large potential contributions to national energy targets. We aim to deliver viable large-scale Carbon Capture & Storage options for the UK.

The UKCCSC mission is to promote an understanding of how options for decoupling fossil fuel use from carbon emissions through the use of carbon capture and storage could be used to assist the UK in achieving an energy system which is environmentally sustainable, socially acceptable and meets energy needs securely and affordably.

The UKCCSC overall objectives:

• To assist in the national aim of reducing UK CO2 emissions by 60%, by decoupling economic growth from energy use and pollution.
• To assist in maintaining the reliability and cost of UK energy, such that every home can be adequately and affordably heated.
• To rapidly expand the UK research capacity in carbon capture and storage (CCS), making a large contribution to national energy targets.
• To assist in enabling the continued use of the UK's coal reserves, both through conventional mining and underground coal gasification.
• Investigation of fossil fuel gasification as a bridge to the hydrogen economy.
• To assist in bridging the gap between the present day fossil fuel economy and the future hydrogen economy.
• Overall assessment of lifecycle costs and emissions of fossil fuel supply options.

CCS objectives:

• Assessment of the impact of future energy supply/demand scenarios on the overall costs and emissions of non-CCS and CCS fossil generation.
• To explore the role of CCS in the update of the UK's energy infrastructure.
• Investigation of CCS synergies with other low-emission energy sources.
• To assist in extending the life of the UK North Sea oil industry by 1 or 2 decades by realising the potential of CCS.
• Investigation of the potential impacts of CO2 leakage during capture and storage, and compare these to the environmental impacts of non-intervention.
• Establish a Geographical Information System (GIS) based decision support tool.