In the present climate of uncertainty about CO2 emissions legislation, owners and power plant planners are looking into the possibility of accommodating “add-on” CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) solutions in their current plant designs. The variety of CCS technologies currently under development makes it a very challenging task. Nevertheless, it is evident that the new generation of plants must address the CO2 capture issue. The underground sequestration of CO2 is associated with technical, legal and public acceptance issues. Current demonstration project will require years of operation in order to determine long term impact in the injection process on the environment. Alternative methods are used to convert CO2 into minerals that can be reused or at least stored in a solid form. The paper will review several of these alternative methods, identifying the advantages as well as the associated technical limitations. In addition to chemical or physical methods, the paper will address several other technologies that employ carbonation and algae as means of converting CO2 into a potential reusable material or transportation fuel. Finally the paper will address beyond the technical feasibility the economic and environmental impact of various alternative sequestration methods.
Correction to: Long-term CO2 capture induced calcite crystallographic changes in Deccan basalt, India