Carbon Capture and Storage

Dear Colleagues,

In spite of recent issues surrounding climate change data and its handling, there is little doubt that our massive geo-engineering experiment of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will have undesirable consequences for the environment and for human health. To reduce the rate of change, it will be essential to deploy all emissions reduction techniques. One of the most effective ways of reducing emissions in the short to medium term (i.e., over the next 5–10 decades) will be to utilize carbon capture and storage, with particular reference to storage deep in the subsurface. Indeed, based on IEA forecasts, the world will need to be storing some 10 billion tons per year of CO₂ by 2050. It is important that this process begins immediately and that we fully understand the implications of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) from a technical, environmental, economic and social perspective. The purpose of this special edition is to help provide some clarity to the debate around CCS and its global implications.

Dr. Malcolm A. Wilson
Guest Editor