The objective of storing carbon dioxide in the earth’s crust is to permanently bond CO2 and thereby prevent or reduce the negative effect on the environment and the resulting threat to the health of people. There is a series of technological processes for the collection, transport and preservation of this greenhouse gas, as a result of which CO2 is removed from the greenhouse gasses of industrial plants and transported and directed into the earth’s crust. The main objective of implementation in the collection and preservation is to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions from power plants consuming fossil fuels, but it can also be implemented in the preservation of CO2 resulting from the production of cement. After collection the CO2 gas is transported and directed into a suitable geological layer, in order to separate it from the atmosphere for a long period of time. In Estonia, the preservation of CO2 in the earth’s crust is not possible; however, we must provide the opportunity with legislation for the collection and transportation of carbon dioxide along transportation pipeline for preservation in the earth’s crust. CO2 collected from industrial processes for the purposes of storage in the earth's crust may not contain additives, except for the collection of gas depending on the sources or collection or substances accompanying the management process by chance and indicators necessary for monitoring the movement of CO2. The draft Act prescribes that a company dealing with the collection of greenhouse gas for the purposes of preservation in the earth's crust shall submit by 31 March of every year to the Ministry of the Environment data about the quantity of CO2 gas collected during the previous calendar year, the method of measurement and the chemical composition. The owner of the pipeline use for transporting CO2 to be stored in the earth’s crust shall submit by 31 March of every year to the Ministry of the Environment data about the quantity of CO2 gas it transported via its transport pipeline and the method of measurement. The capturing and collection of carbon dioxide from emissions is a very expensive technology, as a result of which Estonia’s energy sector has not yet made plans to capture carbon dioxide. In addition to the classical collection, transport and preservation of clean carbon dioxide, Estonia’s energy sector is interested by other alternative methods, which are not covered by the directive regarding the preservation of carbon dioxide. In accordance with the 2007 study ordered from the Department of Mining of Tallinn University of Technology, it is possible to bind the ash and waste generated by Estonia’s thermal power plants with carbon dioxide gas and to then use it as technological backfill material in quarries and mining operations. This would reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere as well as resolve the problem of storing ash above ground. The filling of depleted mines increases the cost-effectiveness of oil shale mining and the stability of the land area. Additional studies are required regarding environmental safety, above all ground water safety, and the economic facet of the activity. In July 2011, the Commission of the European Communities initiated infringement proceedings with an official letter, since Estonia failed to adopt the directive on time. |
