Call to bury power station emissions under water

Ireland’s carbon footprint could be slashed by locking emissions from power stations into empty gas fields under the sea, an official report claims today.

Government advisors believe greenhouse gases from coal-fuelled electricity plants across the island over the next 250 years could be buried in several offshore sites.

One Bord Gáis field alone, off Kinsale Head, Co Cork, could store enough CO2 to cut the country’s greenhouse gases by 6% a year, they say.

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan said it may help the island meet its commitments to curb global warming but stressed more research was needed into the new technology.

“This initial study has indicated that carbon capture and storage may become a viable option for Ireland in the medium term, but considerably more analysis is still required,” he said.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified the depleted Kinsale gas field as being able hold up to 330 million tonnes of CO2.

This would allow emissions to be captured from the coal-fuelled Moneypoint power station in Co Clare, the largest electricity generator in Ireland, and transported to be buried deep in the seabed, the State agencies claim.

In a joint study, the first of its kind into so-called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Ireland, they say the system would cost €2.7bn.

But the agencies believe if penalties for carbon emissions rise over the coming years, and power stations are forced to pay them, it may be cheaper to store them indefinitely.

The report claims there are many other offshore basins around Ireland which would also be suitable for storing carbon emissions from fossil burning power stations.

It is estimated enough sites would be available to store up to 5,000 million tonnes of CO2 or enough for 250 years of electricity generation for the island.

One such option was the Portpatrick Basin, in the North Channel, which could be capable of storing emissions from the Kilroot coal-fired power station in Co Antrim for 58 years.

But the agencies stressed that a lot more analysis is required.

Dr Mary Kelly, director general of the EPA, which is responsible for regulating Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions said the study was important.

“It represents the first step in evaluating carbon capture and storage in an Irish context,” she said.

“However, the deployment of this technology is still at a relatively early stage.

“Further research in this area is urgently required if we are to be assured of the environmental integrity and environmental impacts of CCS.”

The first power plant in the world to use the CCS technology opened this month in Spremberg, eastern Germany.

If it is being seen as a possible prototype for a new wave of CO2-free fossil fuel electricity stations.