Shell put up a huge facility to capture the harmful carbon from the environment. Carbon is one of the biggest threats to the environment at the moment.
Almost all of our daily usage emits a large amount of carbon. Carbon emission usually takes place from the burning of fossil fuels. The majority of our vehicles are run by either petrol or diesel.
These fuels release a substantial amount of carbon into the atmosphere. The harmful gases rise into the atmosphere and form a layer above our atmosphere.
This layer does not allow the heat to escape and makes the Earth hot. Researchers have found that the surface temperature of the Earth has risen significantly.
Such a drastic rise in mercury can lead to a number of disasters. The polar ice caps will start melting at an increased speed. Such phenomena would result in the rising of water levels.
Major cities would get flooded and eventually submerged in water. The melting of the ice caps will also lead to ancient viruses being released. The ice caps have trapped unknown viruses and bacteria.
These can be harmful to humans and can even cause a pandemic. Due to all these reasons, carbon emissions should be controlled immediately. To ensure that more carbon is being sucked off the atmosphere, Shell designed a huge storage facility.
The facility was supposed to be capturing carbon elements from the air and storing them. However, everything did not go as per plan. A recent study has found out that the facility developed by Shell does more harm to the atmosphere than good.
Read: The Keeling Curve Prize: Seeking Out Initiatives That Prevent The Release Of Greenhouse Gases
It emits a lot of carbon while trying to trap them. Let us learn more about the facility at Shell in detail below.
Shell Messes Up Carbon Storage Facility
Shell designed their prototype facility to capture the harmful carbon content from the air. The facility was set up in the year 2015. The company utilized the oil refinery plant in Scotford, Canada.
The company stated that the machine was successful in trapping almost five million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This data seems to be great on paper. However, the reality is far worse.
After detailed research, a shocking revelation was made. The facility did capture the claimed amount of carbon. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, it also emitted a lot of them. The facility at Shell produced 7.5 million tonnes worth of carbon in five years.
Read: Blue Carbon: The Oceans Play A Greater Role In Removing Greenhouse Gases
This is equal to the emissions from 1.2million cars per year. The most concerning part was that the majority of the gases released was Methane. Methane is more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
The properties of methane make it a significant contributor to global warming.
Shell’s New Project Looks Unconvincing
Shell has been the first company that has attempted to capture the carbon from the atmosphere. This process is, however, a complex one. The prototype facility also has financial support from the government.
They were very much willing to launch their design in the commercial market. However, as it stands at the moment, the facility can function in a limited manner. Research from the Global Witness Investigation stated that the prototype was only capable of capturing process emissions.
However, the machine is not yet capable of eliminating the carbons emitted while powering up the machine. The Shell plant can only effectively capture thirty-nine percent carbon from the atmosphere.
This news is certainly not encouraging for the company. It remains to be seen whether Shell fine-tunes the facility and makes it more effective in the future or not.
