15.05.09 Gas pipes might house carbon emissions

The deadly greenhouse gases being emitted from power stations in the UK might not actually be reduced but instead just dusted under the carpet. Rather than being released into the atmosphere - and then increase the threat of global warming - the latest plan is to pump all of the poisonous carbon dioxide gases underground and store them in the hundreds of miles of pipe lines already being used by gas and electricity companies. The Thames Estuary and the Teesside industrial hub could be used to send carbon dioxide gas through pipes under the sea before finally becoming stored in vast empty wells in the North Sea.

National Grid Plc is pushing for the procedure and has already invested many millions of pounds in pilot schemes that utilise the 7000 kilometres of underground storage pipes owned throughout the UK both on and offshore. The process is known as Carbon Capture Storage, or CCS for short, and it’s thought that over the next ten years this method could remove over 240 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, which works out at nearly 10% of the total global CO2 emissions.

All this comes at a huge price though and, as keen and determined as the National Grid are to be given financial support for carbon capture from the government, there are a lot more cost-effective ways in which we can cut down on carbon emissions. This has the benefits of being an immediate cure to the illness though but it's the equivalent of taking high painkillers to hide the pain rather than finding a long-term cure.

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