The new guidance, developed over 15 months through a joint industry project with support from 16 industry and regulator organisations, provides a comprehensive reference source for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects and operations across the world.
In August 2011 DNV KEMA initiated the CO2 Risk Management (CO2RISKMAN) Joint Industry Project to develop a publicly-available guidance on major accident risk management of the CO2 stream within CSS projects. This guidance is now complete and provides the CCS industry with clear and comprehensive information to help in the development of effective CO2 risk management across the whole CCS chain from capture facilities through to underground injection.
“There is no reason why the major accident risks from a CO2 handling system within a CCS operation cannot be low and well within acceptable limits but to achieve this will require the application of existing rigorous hazard management processes combined with an adequate understanding of the properties and behaviours of CO2,” says Mr. Hamish Holt, CO2RISKMAN Project Manager, and Principal Consultant at DNV. “A significant leak from a large inventory CO2 handling system has the potential to be life threatening to people caught within the ensuing dispersing cloud or could pose local environmental harm. In the same way as the risks from other better known hazards are managed, the risks from the CO2 stream also need to be well managed and the new guidance will help this happen,” he adds.