Risk assessment and risk management associated with Carbon Capture and Literature review

Risk assessment and risk management associated with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) - Literature review Example This gas is produced from industries, vehicle emissions and households. Reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide released from industries would lead to significant cuts in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere thereby helping to control global warming and save the environment from the devastating impacts of global warming. One option explored in reducing the industrial carbon emission is the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) (Gerard and Wilson, 2009, p. 1097). They describe carbon capture and sequestration as the process where carbon will be captured from industrial sources and it’s ultimately disposal it by storing it in underground geologic reservoirs rather than releasing it to the atmosphere (Stephens, 2006, p. 4). Carbon capture and storage is an attractive option as it will allow industries to continue using fossil fuels as it helps to stabilize the atmospheric levels of carbon emissions (Newmark, Friedmann & Carroll, 2010, p. 651). Moreover, CCS is both c ommercially viable and technologically feasible. Although CCS remains a viable option in helping stabilize the atmospheric carbon levels, it still has to demonstrate it is a feasible option in terms of cost and harmlessness to the environment ("Warning on carbon capture liability", 2007, p. 8). This means that it is possible to understand the risks associated with this technology and diverse strategies to manage this risk with include risks to the environment and human health and safety (Farret et al., 2011, p. 4193). The technology of carbon capture and storage is a system with four interrelated elements which should be studied in understanding the risks of the technology. These elements include capture, transport, injection and storage (Farret et al., 2011, p. 4193). ... ry, the public, regulatory agencies, customers, governments and in-plant personnel require that companies must demonstrate a commitment to control possibilities of incidents and hazards by conducting environmental, health and health related risks assessment. There are several methods that can be used in analysing risks involved such as Fault Tree Analysis technique (FTA), Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) among others. Some of this techniques have been used other industries such as nuclear, chemical and oil and gas industries but have not been incorporated in analysing the risks associated with CCS although the risks are similar.FTA is an example of these methodologies which have successfully been used in risks assessment in nuclear and chemical industries although it has not been incorporated in CCS. Purpose of the Study This paper will review available literature addressing the risks assessment sand risk management of carbon capture and storage. The main aim of this study is to quantify the main risks associated with CCS project by the use of FTA method. This will consequently be used by the insurance companies to calculate the probability of an undesired event, identify safety critical functions/components/phases and assess the effects of design changes. This will in-turn be used to enable them adjust their present terms and premium rates when insuring CCS projects against risks. Moreover, the findings of this paper will help regulators and policy makers to better tailor the legislations to address the risks associated with CCS. 2.0 Qualitative Risk Assessment "Environmental Risk Assessment’’ (2004, p. 1) explains that risk has varying meanings depending on different contexts. To a common man, risks imply the concept of probability and