Peak Everything, Overshoot, & Collapse

Source: Center for Progressive reform (2024) Carbon Dioxide Leak in Decatur, IL, Demonstrates Dangerous Failure of Carbon Capture Storage and Sequestration

Preface. Clearly it is not worth spending billions of dollars to sequester CO2 “permanently” if it may leak. It’s not just bad for air pollution but water pollution as well. The underground pressurized CO2 can leak into drinking water aquifers and pollute them with heavy metals, salts, volatile organic compounds, and radionuclides like radium.

Archer Daniel Midland’s (ADM) facility in central Illinois was the first permitted commercial carbon sequestration operation in the country. It is at the forefront of a multi-billion-dollar carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry that promises to permanently sequester CO2 deep underground. In September, the public learned of a leak at ADM’s Decatur site. Additional testing turned up a second leak, raising concerns about whether more leaks are likely, whether the public has any right to know when leaks occur, and if CCS technology is really a viable climate solution. ADM kept local and state officials in the dark for months about the first leak, detected in March, five months after discovering corrosion in the tubing in the sequestration well.

Who knew these could be dangerous? I didn’t, until I read the second article below (Dela Cruz 2024), which  shows that the ASU and Amine Absorbers have the highest total number of high-severity incidents, with 16 counts each. ASUs are primarily driven by explosions and fires, while Amine Absorbers experience a mix of fires, explosions, fatalities, and material releases. Gasifiers have a high incidence of explosions, with six reported cases, underscoring the critical need for explosion prevention and control. Boilers have a moderate total number of incidents, predominantly explosions, indicating a need for stringent boiler safety protocols. The FGR, Steam Turbine, and Combustion Turbine show lower total incidents but include high-severity events such as leaks, fires, and explosions, highlighting specific areas for safety improvements.

This technology is key to government goals of slashing emissions and reaching climate goals. To make CCS happen, the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, has put $12 billion dollars up for grabs for new CCS projects and started a CCS gold rush (DOE 2022 Opportunities to Accelerate Deployment in Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Activities. U.S. Department of Energy).