The EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework intends to drive forward technological and natural carbon removals, and prevent greenwashing through robust standards and certification procedures. Itâs to deal with the existing poorly monitored carbon removals market: the lack of oversight, transparency, trustworthiness, and genuine climate impact (additionality) of projects and certificates. Simon Göss at carboneer looks at the current proposals, … [Read more...]
IEAâs new CCUS projects database: a tool for driving much needed progress
The IEA has made available for the first time its CCUS projects database. The number of countries with plans to develop CCUS now stands at 45, with seven more countries - in central and southern Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia â joining the list in 2022. The database covers CO2 capture, transport, storage, and utilisation projects worldwide commissioned since the 1970s, and have an announced capacity of more than 100,000âŻtonnes/year … [Read more...]
Should U.S. DOE risk funding methane-based Hydrogen production when CCS is still not proven?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is allocating $8bn for building regional clean hydrogen hubs. Decisions on who to fund are being made now and will be completed by the end of this year. Any methane-based hydrogen project that achieves a 95% carbon capture rate will be sufficiently âcleanâ to qualify for the federal funding. But, as Suzanne Mattei, David Schlissel and Dennis Wamsted at IEEFA explain, the few âat scaleâ CCS projects now running … [Read more...]
Direct capture of CO2 from seawater: new research cuts costs, ready for pilot in 2025
Direct capture of CO2 from the air is already established in pilot phase in sites around the world, but costs are very high. So it is puzzling that capturing CO2 direct from the sea is yet to be tested properly. After all, the concentration of CO2 in seawater is more than 100 times greater than in the air, pointing at a process that should be much more efficient. David Chandler at MIT looks at research there that has uncovered cheaper and more … [Read more...]
Germany is developing a strategy for Carbon Capture and Storage to meet its 2045 net zero target
Germany cannot become carbon neutral by 2045 without carbon capture, explains Simon Göss at carboneer. Itâs why the German government is developing a Carbon Management Strategy for CO2 storage and utilisation. Projections reveal that around 30m tons of CO2 will have to be captured, transported, reused or disposed of by 2045. The focus will be on industrial processes and waste. Göss lays out the background to Germanyâs strategy, including possible … [Read more...]
Electrochemical CO2 removal: efficient, cheaper, first industrial client
Leda Zimmerman at MIT describes a method of removing CO2 electrochemically, now being taken forward by MIT spin-off company Verdox. Electrodes are coated with polyanthraquinone. When it is charged, CO2 sticks to it. When itâs time to store it away, the charge is reversed and the gas is expelled as a pure stream of CO2. The technology works in a wide range of CO2 concentrations, from the 20% or higher found in cement and steel industry exhaust … [Read more...]
Copenhagen will miss its 2025 net-zero target: a case study of how pledges fail
Copenhagen is going to miss its 2025 net-zero target. The reason can be taken as a template for why we may soon see other failing pledges from governments and corporates. Kirstine Lund Christiansen at the University of Copenhagen and Inge-Merete Hougaard at Lund University explain that Copenhagenâs emissions overspill stems from an unrealistic dependence on technology when the promise was first made in 2012. As the target date got closer, other … [Read more...]
Carbon Capture is a risky decarbonisation pathway: 13 flagship projects reviewed
The debate around the effectiveness of carbon capture (you can register now for our CCUS session on Wednesday at 10.45 - Editor) has led to polarising views. Although the first implementations began 50 years ago, serious efforts to capture large volumes cost-effectively are in their infancy and unproven at scale. Is it, given time and support, a solution to excess emissions worldwide? Or is it a distraction that will allow fossils to be used yet … [Read more...]
Engineered soil microbe can convert CO2 20 times faster than natural photosynthesis
New research led by the U.S. Department of Energyâs SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Germany has shown how a bacterial enzyme found in the soil can be made to convert carbon dioxide into carbon compounds 20 times faster than plant enzymes do during natural photosynthesis. As Glennda Chui at Stanford University explains, itâs very early days but could open a door to artificially … [Read more...]
Biologically produced Ethylene for plastics can become a carbon capture leader
Ethylene is a key component of the worldâs vast appetite for plastics. But itâs normally made using fossils as a feedstock, and is energy-intensive to produce. So the chemicals industry has long sought a way to biologically manufacture ethylene. It would be a double-win for clean energy: it would capture CO2 and displace the fossil-based feedstocks. Connor OâNeil at NREL describes new research that makes ethylene in a âone-stepâ process fuelled … [Read more...]
Worldâs biggest Carbon Capture project: Shute Creekâs âsell or ventâ business model isnât working
ExxonMobilâs Shute Creek CCUS facility is the worldâs largest carbon capture project. But since its launch in the 1980s half of that CO2 has been vented into the atmosphere, with most of the rest sold for pumping it underground to push out more oil from depleted wells (called Enhanced Oil Recovery). Only 3% has been sequestered underground, explain Bruce Robertson and Milad Mousavian at IEEFA, following their study based on publicly available … [Read more...]
Converting captured CO2 directly into fuels could get simpler, cheaper
Converting captured CO2 directly into fuels (or other products) at scale seems an effective way to mitigate emissions. But most of the conversion methods, including electrochemical, thermocatalytic, photothermal, or photochemical processes, have not proved very effective. David Chandler at MIT describes how researchers there have identified the main stumbling block and found a very simple solution. Basically, at the molecular level, the contact … [Read more...]
Using captured Methane to make all the worldâs fishmeal: a profitable revenue stream?
If the cost of capturing methane (or CO2, or anything) can be folded into the cost of making something that can be sold at a profit, methane capture will take off. Rob Jordan at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment explains how research there shows captured methane can be turned into fishmeal at the same price as commercial fishmeal. In some cases it can be done much more cheaply. Commercial fishmeal, used to feed farmed fish, is … [Read more...]
Will this be the decade of Carbon Capture or another false start?
Ten years ago there was a major drive to get carbon capture off the ground. But only 30% of the earmarked $8.5bn worldwide was ever spent. Spending timescales were too short, deadlines were missed, projects were too focussed and too complex, and long-term liability was poorly understood and managed. This time it can be different, says Samantha McCulloch at the IEA who compares that faltering history with the plans now being put in place. New … [Read more...]
Renewed interest in Carbon Capture strategies for net-zero: targets, obstacles, costs, priorities
Martina Lyons at IRENA picks out the highlights of their new report âReaching Zero with Renewables: Capturing Carbonâ. Carbon capture is going to be expensive, so should be focussed on hard-to-abate industrial sectors, as well as bioenergy plants. Lyons breaks down the target carbon capture volumes, costs and the investments required, as well as looking at the consequences of different strategies and carbon prices. Scaling up this technology, … [Read more...]
