Carbon ‘capture’ climate technology is evolving, and confusing

Humanity’s failure to reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions — 41 billion metric tons by 2022 — has pushed once-marginal options for capping or reducing CO.₂ of the atmosphere to center stage in climate policy and investment.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and direct air capture (DAC) are both complex industrial processes that isolate CO₂ but these newly emerging technologies are fundamentally different and often integrated.

Here’s a primer on what they are and how they differ.

What is carbon capture?

CCS captures CO₂ from the exhaust, or flue gas, of fossil fuel-fired power plants as well as heavy industry.

The exhaust from a coal-fired power plant is about 12 percent CO₂while in the production of steel and cement it is usually double that.

Unlike CCS, which itself only prevents more carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, DAC captures CO₂ molecules are already there.

Essentially, this makes DAC a “negative emissions” technology.

So it would generate credits for companies seeking to offset their greenhouse gas output—but only if the captured CO₂ permanently stored underground, such as in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or in saline aquifers.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in ambient air is only 420 parts per million (about 0.04 percent), so corralling the CO₂ Using DAC is very energy intensive.

Once isolated using CCS or DAC, CO₂ can be used to make products such as building materials or “green” aviation fuel, although some of the CO₂ seep back into the air.

“If the CO₂ used, then it is not a removal,” said Oliver Geden, a senior fellow at the German Institute for International Security Affairs.

State of play

The fossil fuel industry has been using CCS since the 1970s but not to prevent CO₂ from leaching into the atmosphere.

Instead, oil and gas companies inject CO₂ to the oil fields to get crude oil more easily.

Historically, bolting CCS facilities to coal- and gas-fired power plants and then storing the CO₂ to reduce emissions proved to be technically feasible but not economically feasible.

The world’s largest CCS plant, the Petra Nova facility in Texas, was mothballed three years after opening in 2017.

But the looming climate crisis and government subsidies have reignited interest in CCS for the power sector and beyond.

By the end of 2022, there will be 35 commercial facilities worldwide applying industrial carbon capture technology, fuel conversion or power generation, sequestering a total of 45 million tons ( Mt) in CO.₂according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

DAC, in contrast, is very innovative.

A total of 18 DAC plants around the world capture only roughly that much CO₂ last year (10,000 tons) while the world released 10 seconds.

Scaling up

Both CCS and DAC must be massively scaled up if they are to play a significant role in decarbonizing the global economy.

To meet the mid-century net-zero emissions target, CCS needs to divert 1.3 billion tons a year from power and industry—30 times more than last year—by 2030. , according to the IEA.

DAC must remove 60 Mt CO₂ per year on that date, several thousand times more than today.

But the new industry is developing with new actors, and the first million-ton-year plant is scheduled to come on line in the United States next year, with others to follow.

“It’s a big challenge but it’s not new,” University of Wisconsin–Madison professor Gregory Nemet told AFP, citing other technologies, including solar panels, that are developing in many decades.

Prepare a stock CO site₂ could take up to 10 years, so storage could be a serious bottleneck for CCS and DAC development.

Cost per ton

Carbon capture costs $15 to $20 per ton for industrial processes with large CO streams₂and $40 to $120 per ton for more diluted gas streams, such as power generation.

DAC—in its infancy—has higher costs, ranging from $600 to $1,000 per ton of CO₂ caught.

Those costs are expected to drop sharply to $100-$300 per ton by 2050, according to the inaugural State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report, published earlier this year.

Follow the money

As countries and companies feel the pinch from decarbonization timetables and net-zero commitments, more money—public and private—is flowing into CCS and DAC.

In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allocates billions of dollars in tax credits for CCS.

The previous Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided about $12 billion over five years.

Canada’s 2022 budget also extends an investment tax credit that cuts the cost of CCS projects in half.

South Korea and China are also investing heavily in the sector, with China opening a 500,000 Mt plant last month in Jiangsu Province.

In Europe, support comes at the national level and is focused on industry and storage, especially in the North Sea.

For the DAC, a range of companies — Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, Stripe, Microsoft and H&M Group — paid into a fund with a promise to collectively purchase at least $1 billion in “permanent carbon removal” between 2022 and 200.

Last month, JP Morgan secured a $20 million, nine-year carbon removal deal with DAC pioneer Climeworks, based in Switzerland.

© 2023 AFP