Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies aim to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and heavy industry before transporting it by pipeline or ship and storing it underground in, for example, empty oil and gas fields. The driver behind this method is to reduce the mass of CO2 that enters the atmosphere and contributes to global warming and ocean acidification. The technology can be used in energy production facilities, and other industrial processes, wherever large CO2 quantities are produced. Different CCS technologies allow retrofitting to existing plants and integrating in new plants.

Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU) aims to use the captured CO2 emissions as a source for manufacturing of fuels, carbonates, polymers and other chemicals, and contribute to a circular economy. In general, CCU is less advanced in the industrial application than CCS and requires continuing research and development. That said, CCU is already used on an industrial scale in the European Union (EU) in the fertilizer industry for the production of melamine and urea-based glues and resins, with around 1.8 Mtpa (millions of tonnes per annum) of CO2 captured from steam methane reforming (SMR) during the ammonia (NH3) production [Fertilizers Europe/ European Gas Regulatory Forum, 2019]. CCU is also used in the production of calcium carbonate, where CO2 reacts with NH3 to produce lime which can be mixed with calcium nitrate to produce calcium ammonium nitrate, a popular nitrogen fertilizer used in the EU.

Due to the CO2 emissions exceeding the current expectations of CO2 usage market development, CCU is considered a complementary alternative to CCS only. Depending on the source the expected market potential is approximately 200 MtCO2/y for CO2 utilisation [Aresta et al. 2013] and approximately 14,000 MtCO2/y emission [Boot-Handford et al. 2014]. The technology is currently still in the development stage, but pilot projects are already in effect, and more are planned over the next decade. Depending on the literature source the expectation is to capture up to 85-90% of CO2, emissions. Currently, multiple sites are already active or planned within the, EU (Figure 1) and worldwide. To meet climate neutral ambitions, CCS and CCU efforts will be increased significantly over the next few years.

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