2 Carbon Dioxide Capture and Air Quality

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important greenhouse gases (GHG). The most dominant source of anthropogenic CO2 contributing to the rise in atmospheric concentration since the industrial revolution is the combustion of fossil fuels. These emissions are expected to result in global climate change with potentially severe consequences for ecosystems and mankind. In this context, these emissions should be restrained in order to mitigate climate change. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technological concept to reduce the atmospheric emissions of CO2 that result from various industrial processes, in particular from the use of fossil fuels (mainly coal and natural gas) in power generation and from combustion and process related emissions in industrial sectors. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regards CCS as “an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions” to combat climate change (IPCC 2005). However, the deployment of CO2 capture at power plants and large industrial sources may influence local and transboundary air pollution, i.e. the emission of key atmospheric emissions such as SO2, NOX, NH3, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Both positive as negative impacts on overall air quality when applying CCS are being suggested in the literature. The scientific base supporting both viewpoints is rapidly advancing. The potential interaction between CO2 capture and air quality targets is crucial as countries are currently developing GHG mitigation action plans. External and unwanted trade-offs regarding air quality as well as co-benefits when implementing CCS should be known before rolling out this technology on a large scale. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the existing scientific base and provide insights into ongoing and needed scientific endeavours aimed at expanding the science base. The chapter outline is as follows. We first discuss the basics of CO2 capture, transport and storage in section 2. In section 3, we discuss the change in the direct emission profile of key atmospheric pollutants when equipping power plants with CO2 capture. Section 4 expands on atmospheric emissions in the life cycle of CCS concepts. We provide insights in section 5 into how air quality policy and GHG reduction policy may interact in the Netherlands and the European Union. Section 6 focuses on atmospheric emissions from post-combustion CO2