Carbon capture storage offers the perfect opportunity to scale up net zero ambitions

By Max

With energy transition efforts gathering pace, it is becoming clearer now than ever before, how important technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) are for mitigating climate change risks. Globally, we must capture over four billion tonnes of CO2 by 2035 if we are to meet the 1.5-degree climate goal laid out by the Paris Agreement. To put this into context, in 2021 global crude oil producztion emitted over 4.2 billion tonnes of CO2.

These stark figures showcase that to achieve our climate goals within the time constraints, we must essentially scale up CCS activity to match that of oil and gas.

CCS has increasingly been recognised as a necessary tool for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Its ability to decarbonise hard-to-abate industries has been pivotal, with governments across the world taking significant steps to increase its overall scale. The UK government recently announced its commitment to inject £20 billion of funding into local CCS projects that pump emissions underground throughout the next two decades. There has been no better time to invest in local CCS projects across the UK.

Whilst this is a significant step in the right direction for increasing CCS production in the UK, it is still just a drop in the ocean when considering the estimated CAPEX costs associated with reaching the goal of mitigating four billion tonnes per year by 2035.

Experts have suggested that it could cost up to $1.2 trillion annually to finance this radical deployment of carbon capture technology, even after considering experience curve benefits. However, this doesn't have to be fully financed by governments. With a decent nudge from the government, I believe it's in the best interest of many industries to lead this development.

The price of CO2 is a crucial element in attracting interest and investment in CCS projects. With the UK currently valuing carbon around £70 per tonne, CCS activity here can be economic.

Traditionally, the slow uptake of CCS activity has been frequently down to its high cost; however, it is important to note that the cost of CCS can be negligible when considering the end-user. For example, even though CCS increases cement and steel costs, the overall construction cost of a bridge only rises marginally, somewhere around 1%. This small cost increase, however, enables a much deeper reduction in CO2 emissions, approximately 51%, that are typically associated with bridge construction.

Industries will inevitably play a critical role in transitioning to a low-carbon future. Many companies have net-zero targets and will need to use a variety of tools such as CCS or geothermal, to achieve this. Data gathered by BloombergNEF shows that investment in CCS activities peaked in 2022 at $6.4 billion. Much of this investment was underpinned by government policies and regulations targeted at supporting the shift to a low-carbon energy sector.

The future of CCS will require solutions on multiple levels, from local industry players, seeking to reduce their own carbon footprint, to large, complex hubs that governments should provide with transparent and stable regulatory and fiscal frameworks to support industry investment.

Beyond cost, potential CO2 leakage is a concern associated with CCS that can be offputting to developers. Experts, however, are rebuffing these claims, with a recent report shared by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy concluding that there is a high level of confidence in the longterm security of CO2 containment, as more than 99.9% of CO2 will be retained within the storage complex.

However, to ensure that CCS storage is done safely, site location is crucial. There are three primary factors to consider: storage capacity, injectivity, and containment; though finding the ideal geological formation is not as straightforward as it might seem.

At Getech, our goal is to identify the prime sites for carbon storage by seeking out rocks that have large storage potential, thanks to high porosity and permeability, which are overlain by robust seals and in stable geological settings. These components are all key to ensuring that CO2 will be held securely in place for decades to come.

CCS has the ability to be revolutionary in our race to reduce carbon emissions. Its capabilities in decarbonising heavy-emitting industries are unrivalled. But it is evident that for this technology to make an impact, investment both on a public and private level is necessary.

We currently have a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to scale up CCS to meet massive societal needs to mitigate climate change, one that we cannot let pass us by.

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