Decarbonisation Technology - November 2021

evidence of the efficiency gains and carbon savings achieved. Decarbonisation Technology can help by sharing these stories with a wider audience, going beyond those inside the industry to reach the politicians, their advisers and ultimately the public. This will be valuable in changing the debate away from one of blaming the oil and gas industry to one of encouraging a spirit of cooperative partnership between all stakeholders, vital in driving a rapid transformation to a net-zero global economy. Establishing priorities Societal priorities and politics are important factors that influence the technologies that will be deployed in the next decade. However, it is important for technology providers and users to create options for consideration, and to challenge the priorities. Stabilising the climate is one of three goals (along with protecting biodiversity and respect for human rights) common to the whole global community, hence the COP process. Urgency is critical and as such any technology that can contribute and be deployed at scale quickly must be supported. Thus, in the near term, carbon capture from industrial processes should be supported, even as capacity for direct CO 2 capture from the atmosphere is developed. Similarly, hydrogen production from existing nuclear power plants should be supported as a zero carbon, lower cost option. 9,10 Some of these solutions may not be preferred in the longer term, but such preferences should only be made once the alternative is technically and commercially ready at scale. Bans on fossil fuels or sanctions against energy companies could result in higher prices and supply crises, which in turn could create a negative public perception about climate action. Carbon pricing mechanisms can and should be used as a means of progressively driving the energy transition whilst ensuring energy supply security.

captured CO 2 into renewable, hydrocarbon fuels for harder to decarbonise transport systems such as marine and aviation. It is also valuable as a route for the decarbonisation of whole sectors of the chemicals and metals industries. The issue with hydrogen so far has been the scale of production and the economics. Innovations in hydrogen production are therefore of great interest in the production of low carbon liquid and gaseous fuels. A recent publication from WBCSD on Policy Recommendations to Accelerate Hydrogen Deployment for a 1.5ºC Scenario is a clear example of the importance of progressive decarbonisation. 6 This paper illustrates how it is possible to grow hydrogen capacity from 70 Mtpa in 2020 to 800 Mtpa by 2050 whilst reducing the carbon intensity for hydrogen production from approximately 6kg CO 2 eq/kg H 2 today to 1kg CO 2 eq/kg H 2 by 2050, given the right policy support to encourage investment. Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage is too often dismissed. It is a technology proven at scale, initially in several oil and gas production sites and more recently in downstream refining and petrochemical operations. In 2021, Ineos Grangemouth 7 announced a multi-million dollar investment in carbon capture and storage from its petrochemical operations. Further innovations are extending carbon capture such that the CO 2 is not just stored but reused. For example, recently Repsol and Petronor 8 announced two projects that combine captured CO 2 with green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity) to produce net-zero emissions fuels. These examples show that carbon emissions to the atmosphere can be reduced in the near term. Share knowledge and experiences Whilst refiners are employing a myriad of innovations in refineries that result in emissions reductions now and in the near term, the wider world is largely ignorant of these. It is in the interests of all involved in the industry to share the work it is doing throughout the lifetime of a project from the planning and investment phases, through the commissioning phase, but, most importantly, the operational phase, with

VIEW REFERENCES

Robin Nelson