Decarbonisation Technology - February 2025 Issue

rail. However, pipelines remain the most cost- effective and widely used option, particularly for long distances and larger volumes of CO₂. As shown in Figure 2 , pipelines generally have a lower cost compared to ships for distances up to 800 km. Offshore pipelines, especially in regions like the North Sea, will be crucial for the development of commercial- scale CCS projects. Currently, the US leads the world in the number of operational and developing CCS projects, supported by its extensive 5,000+ mile onshore CO₂ pipeline network. Many existing pipelines previously used for oil and gas can be repurposed for CO₂ usage, which helps to reduce the cost significantly. Reusing pipelines typically costs around 1-10% of constructing new ones (Drax, 2022) while also minimising the need for new infrastructure. However, to meet climate targets in the next few decades, approximately 100 times more pipeline infrastructure than currently available will be required (Global CCS Institute, 2018) . To support the expansion of CCS pipeline networks, tools like bMark provide access to up-to-date data sources, including information on existing oil, gas, and CO₂ pipelines worldwide. This data is essential for planning, designing, and scaling up pipeline infrastructure effectively. Figure 3 highlights the pipeline data for the US, available on bMark.

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the density of a liquid but the viscosity of a gas (Drax, 2022) . The viscosity is up to 100 times lower than that of the liquid phase (TWI, 2010) , significantly reducing drag during pipeline flow. This improvement increases CO₂ throughput, leading to lower operational costs. Figure 1 shows the various transport methods for CO₂ associated with the phase during operation. The difficulty with transporting CO₂ in this state is that it must remain supercritical, requiring the temperature and pressure to be maintained to avoid phase changes. Pipeline transport of supercritical CO₂ Various methods for transporting CO₂ are available, including pipelines, ships, road, and Figure 2 Cost (in USD) of transporting CO₂ via offshore pipelines and ship for distances of 100- 1,000 km, assuming a capacity of 2 Mt/year Source: IEAGHG (2020)

Figure 3 Pipelines data across the US

Source: Belltree bMark

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