![]() We also included an estimate for CO 2 storage. To clarify these dynamics, we modeled the expected alternative CO 2 uses in 2030-from the already proven technologies, such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR), to more speculative ones, such as CO 2-derived substitutes for carbon fiber. There are also tricky legal issues, such as liability for potential leaks and the jurisdictional complexities associated with underground property use. But storing CO 2 at scale is a pure cost, and related investments have (understandably) been limited, given the absence of regulatory incentives to defray the installation of capture technology and a storage infrastructure. Storage would seem the obvious choice, as the geologic-storage-reservoir potential is vast, and the technology involved is mature. While these options all help stabilize levels of CO 2 in the atmosphere, the challenge is economics. ![]() Once captured, concentrated CO 2 can be transported (most economically by pipeline) to places where it can be used as an input-for example, cured in concrete or as a feedstock to make synthetic jet fuel-or simply stored underground. Carbon dioxide can be captured at the source of the emissions, such as power plants or refineries, or even from the air itself.Ī range of technologies-some using membranes, others using solvents-can perform the capture step of the process. Driving your car or heating your home also releases CO 2. Many industrial processes generate CO 2, most prominently when hydrocarbons are burned to generate power, but also less obviously-for example, when limestone is heated to produce cement. The potential of CCUS can be tracked along an intuitive value chain. The value chain of carbon capture, use, and storage This article surveys the state of a portfolio of CCUS technologies, the underlying economics, and the changes needed to accelerate progress. In the short to medium term, CCUS could continue to struggle unless three important conditions are met: (1) capture costs fall, (2) regulatory frameworks provide incentives to account for CCUS costs, and (3) technology and innovation make CO 2 a valuable feedstock for existing or new products. However, to reach CCUS’s potential, commercial-scale 1 Commercial scale projects are those with at least 0.5 Mtpa of capacity.projects must become economically viable. What’s more, CCUS, along with natural carbon capture achieved through reforestation, would be a necessary step on the pathway to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. But it offers considerable potential for reducing emissions in particularly hard-to-abate sectors, such as cement and steel production. CCUS doesn’t diminish the need to continue reducing CO 2 emissions in other ways-for instance, by using more renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. The short- to medium-term technical potential for CCUS is significant (Exhibit 1). To better understand the possible role of CCUS, we looked at current technologies, reviewed current developments that could accelerate CCUS adoption, and assessed the economics of a range of use and storage scenarios. ![]() In some cases, that CO 2 can be used to create products ranging from cement to synthetic fuels. Through direct air capture (DAC) or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), CCUS can actually draw down CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere-“negative emissions,” as this is called. High on the list is carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS), the term for a family of technologies and techniques that do exactly what they say: they capture CO 2 and use or store it to prevent its release into the atmosphere. Growing concerns about climate change are intensifying interest in advanced technologies to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, such as cement, and also to draw down CO 2 levels in the atmosphere.
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