Carbon Capture Poised for Global Rollout

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The global take-up of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is "now on the cusp of widespread deployment" according to the Global CCS Institute.

The Institute has reported that there are now 22 projects currently under construction or in operation, a jump of 50% since 2011.

"CCS in the power sector is now a reality with the world's first large-scale CCS project operating at Boundary Dam, Canada," explained Brad Page, CEO of the Global CCS Institute. "With eight major CCS projects anticipated to go live in a range of industries worldwide by 2016, this low-carbon technology is reaching the critical mass necessary for widespread deployment."

The annual Global Status of CCS: 2014 report found that the industry is "poised to move through its most active construction period to date", extending across a diverse range of sectors such as iron and steel, natural gas and power. It listed nine CCS projects under construction with investments totalling billions of dollars -- eight of these are expected to become operational by 2016.

"These diverse and large-scale projects demonstrate that CCS is active, operational and viable," Page continued. "An important point is that the projects currently under construction are the result of visionary policy decisions made around five years ago. We simply can't have an effective response to tackling climate change without CCS. Decisions and actions are required now to lay policy, legal and infrastructure foundations for wide-scale deployment post 2020."

Some of the report's key findings included:

• The world's first large-scale CCS project in the power sector went live at Boundary Dam in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 2, 2014.

• The Abu Dhabi CCS Project in the UAE (expected to come online in 2016) will be the world's first large-scale CCS project in the iron and steel sector.

• There are 22 large-scale CCS projects in operation or construction around the world, with the capacity to capture up to 40 million tonnes of CO2 per annum, equivalent to taking 8 million cars off the road.

• The next two large-scale CCS projects in the power sector are planned to come online in the US: Southern Company's Kemper County Energy Facility in Mississippi (2016), and the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project in Texas (2016).

• CCS projects in the UK are progressing with both the Peterhead CCS Project and the White Rose CCS Project receiving funding to begin advanced engineering studies, while its policy makers are developing mechanisms to support CCS in the power and industrial sectors.

• There are another 14 large-scale CCS projects in advanced planning stages, including 9 in the power sector, many of which are anticipated to take a final investment decision during the next year.

• The US, Canada and China lead the world in the development and deployment of CCS projects. These countries are not only major sources of CO2, but also have a vast potential to store CO2.

• The data revealed two areas requiring more attention from policy makers: the lack of CCS projects in non-OECD economies (outside of China) and the lack of progress in CCS technology development in high carbon-intensive industries such as iron and steel and cement.

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