CO 2 is a so-called greenhouse gas, trapping heat normally reflected from the Earth’s surface back into Space. This trapping of heat elevates temperatures at the Earth’s surface. While less certain, a majority of climate scientists hypothesize that the increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration is causally linked to anthropogenic CO 2 formation.
The third certainty lending value to CCS is that injection of CO 2 enhances recovery of oil from mature oil fields while sequestering CO 2. These three certainties make CCS important to consider.
The two principal sources of anthropogenic CO 2 , both in the U.S. (see figure below) and in the world as a whole, are the electrical power-generating and transportation sectors (Wilcox, 2012). There has been much emphasis on capturing CO 2 from fossil fuel-fired power generation plants. They are stationary sources of CO 2 and relatively few in number, and therefore amenable to carbon capture. The transportation sector is currently less amenable due to its mobile and much more numerous CO 2 sources.
