The aim of the CCS technology is to prevent the greenhouse gas CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere. In recent decades, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has sharply increased. According to scientist from the international research assessment platform for climate change
IPCC, man-made CO2 emissions by burning fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) are a main cause of average temperature rise in earth, and the main cause of temperature increase over the past 100 years, which is in turn causing our climate to change.
The European Commission aims to limit the temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. This means that the worldwide CO2-emission by the year 2050 must be reduced by 50 to 85 percent than in 2000. However the use of fossil fuels is only expected to rise in years to come, as a result of a worldwide increase in energy demand. Therefore, reducing CO2 emissions will be a major challenge calling for a suite of solutions. CO2 capture and storage could be one of these solutions. However, as is the case for every possible solution, there are different views on its
acceptability.
More details on the effects of CO2 in the atmosphere can be found
here.