Carbon Capture, Usage, and Storage (CCUS) helps control CO2 emissions. It encompasses technologies used in large sites like power plants and industrial facilities.
- It can also remove existing CO2 from the atmosphere.
- CCUS is critical for achieving global climate goals.
- Top entities like the International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) emphasise its importance.
- These organisations have developed long-term energy outlooks that rely heavily on the rapid expansion of CCUS to limit the global temperature increase to below 1.5°C.
Understanding CCUS: A Simple Guide
- CCUS is an application that works in three stages: capturing CO2, transporting it, and storing or using it.
- There are three main ways to capture CO2: post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxy-fuel combustion.
- Post-combustion captures CO2 from flue gas after fuel burns, often using a chemical solvent.
- Pre-combustion turns fuel into a gas mixture of hydrogen and CO2 before burning. The separated CO2 leaves a hydrogen-rich mixture, which can be used as fuel.
- Oxy-fuel combustion burns fuel with nearly pure oxygen, producing CO2 and steam. The CO2 is then captured.
- Post-combustion and oxy-fuel equipment can be added to new plants or retrofitted to existing ones.
- Pre-combustion methods, which require significant changes to facility operations, are better suited to new plants.
- Current CCUS facilities can capture around 90% of CO2 from flue gas.
- Improved technologies for higher capture rates are under research.
- CO2 capture can also occur directly from the atmosphere, using fans and solid sorbents or liquid solvents.
- This method is more costly due to energy intensiveness and lower CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
- Once captured, CO2 is converted into a liquid state and transported. Methods include pipelines, ships, rail, or road tankers.
- The CO2 can be stored permanently in deep geological formations, typically over 1 km deep.
- Storage sites can include depleted oil and gas reservoirs, coalbeds, or deep saline aquifers.
- There is more global underground storage than needed to meet climate targets.
- Most high-emitting nations have substantial storage resources.
- Captured CO2 can also be used in commercial products and services. This use’s climate impact needs careful study.
The Role And Benefits Of CCUS In Decarbonisation
- CCUS stands as a strategic tool in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
- It’s effective in lowering emissions in ‘hard-to-abate’ industries, which are traditionally challenging to decarbonize.
- It facilitates the production of low-carbon electricity and hydrogen. These can be utilised to decarbonize various activities.
- It’s capable of removing existing CO2 from the atmosphere.
- It contributes to energy diversity and flexibility, supporting energy security, a rising concern for governments globally.
- CCUS is the most cost-efficient solution for deep decarbonisation in many regions, particularly for iron, steel, and chemicals.
- Within the cement industry, which accounts for nearly 7% of global emissions, CCUS stands out as the sole known technology capable of achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Role of Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) in Low-Carbon Energy Production
- CCUS offers an innovative solution for low-carbon electricity and hydrogen production.
- This technology can be integrated with power plants fueled by coal, gas, biomass, or waste.
- The electricity generated through CCUS can substitute fossil fuels in various sectors, including personal transport, space heating, and industrial heat extraction.
- Additionally, CCUS-produced hydrogen can directly replace fossil fuels in combustion processes.
- Hydrogen can also be used as industrial feedstock or for long-haul transport.
Costs And Risks Of CCUS
- High expenditure is a major concern linked with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).
- Establishing and operating CCUS facilities demands a high capital outlay and significant energy, magnifying costs particularly when energy prices soar.
- There’s uncertainty and risk tied to the technological functionality of CCUS.
- However, in the face of stricter climate goals and escalating carbon prices, curbing emissions becomes non-optional.
- Consequently, it’s critical to evaluate CCUS costs and risks against other decarbonization strategies rather than against inaction.
- Limiting CCUS availability might inadvertently increase dependence on pricier, less mature technologies.
- To illustrate, introducing CO2 capture in steel production can bump up costs by less than 10%. Meanwhile, methods relying on renewable-produced hydrogen can inflate costs by 35-70% when set against conventional production.
- The cost of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is declining as the market grows and technologies evolve.
- The cost of CO2 capture in power generation fell by 35% from the first to the second large-scale CCUS facility.
- Evaluating costs should take into account broader economic benefits.
- CCUS enables energy-intensive industries to operate in a manner that is in line with net-zero emissions targets, protecting jobs and assets from becoming obsolete.
- Potential CO2 leakages from storage sites could negate intended emissions savings and cause environmental harm.
- However, stringent regulations for the selection, management, and monitoring of storage sites are being established.
- Many potential storage sites are geologically well-understood formations that have already stored CO2.