Decarbonisation Technology - November 2022

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the energy transition CCUS has a vital, albeit limited, role to play in delivering a net-zero economy by mid-century alongside zero-carbon electricity and clean hydrogen

Mike Hemsley Energy Transitions Commission

E ven with the most ambitious possible reductions in gross emissions, it is almost certain that cumulative CO₂ emissions between now and 2050 will exceed the ‘carbon budget’ consistent with a 1.5°C climate objective. With clean electricity delivering 65-70% of the world’s final energy demand, accompanied by a significant role for low-carbon hydrogen, and a modest role for sustainable, low-carbon bioresources, the capture of 7 GtCO₂/year by 2050 will still be required, from 0.04 GtCO₂/year today, and equivalent to around 20% of CO₂ emissions from the world’s energy system today. Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) must therefore play three vital but limited roles in the energy transition: • To decarbonise those sectors where alternatives are technically limited (i.e. industrial processes which by their nature produce CO₂, such as cement)

• To deliver some of the CO₂ removals required to achieve global climate objectives • To provide a low-cost decarbonisation solution in some sectors and geographies where CCUS is economically advantaged relative to other decarbonisation vectors locally The Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) recently completed its Making Mission Possible series of reports demonstrating that it is possible to achieve faster reductions in emissions than seemed feasible a decade ago, including in harder-to-abate sectors driven by clean electricity, low-carbon hydrogen and sustainable bioresources. This article summarises some key messages from the latest report, CCUS in the Energy Transition: Vital but Limited , which assesses the roles CCUS should play on the path to net zero and what action is required by governments, corporate, and finance to achieve it. The full report is available

Cement

High value chemicals

Fossil fuel processing Iron & steel Power CCS

Sustainable biomass Net zero emissions (BECCU)

Point source CCU

Fossil

Air

Aviation fuels Aggregates

Fossil

Increased carbon eciency

Direct air CCU

Plastics EOR

Blue hydrogen Cement

N/A

Net zero emissions (DACCU)

Point source CCS

N/A

Bioresources

BECC

Net zero emissions

Carbon removals

Stored CO

N/A

Air

DACC

DACCS & BECCS

Carbon removals

N/A

CO capture

End of life

Source

Capture type & end of life

Impact on CO emissions

Figure 1 Varying combinations of CO₂ capture and end of life imply different impacts on CO₂ emissions