CCS technology on rise for third consecutive year

“Climate ambition, including efforts to decarbonise industry, has not been curtailed despite the adversities faced in 2020,” said CEO of the Global CCS Institute, Brad Page. “We’re continuing to see an upward trajectory in the amount of CO₂ capture and storage infrastructure that is being developed. One of the largest factors driving this growth is recognition that achieving net-zero emissions is urgent yet unattainable without CO₂ reductions from energy intensive sectors.”

Commitments to reach net-zero emissions saw significant support over the last year from governments and businesses alike, particularly in Europe and in Asia Pacific, spearheading CCS investment. The Global CCS 2020 Status Report shows:

• The CCS facility pipeline continued to grow three years in a row, with global capture and storage capacity nearly doubling within 3 years and increasing by 33% since 2019.
• Almost 40 million tpy of CO₂ are being captured from 26 commercial CCS facilities currently in operation.
• The US, which is already home to the highest number of operational CCS facilities, continues its lead in the global CCS league and hosts 12 of the 17 new commercial facilities added to the project pipeline in 2020. The US has some of the most advanced supportive policies for CCS of any country in the world, including the enhanced 45Q tax credit and the California Low-Carbon Fuel Standard.
• 2020 saw increased ambition and support for CCS in Europe as well. The Norwegian government announced its green light for the Langskip project. Funding for CCS infrastructure was earmarked in the UK’s Spring Budget, with the goal of developing several hub and clusters during the decade. Elsewhere in Europe, the first call of EU’s €10 billion Innovation Fund, expected be a major source of funding for CCS projects, was launched in July, whilst the Porthos Project in Netherlands is scheduled to take a final investment decision in 2021.
• In Asia Pacific, regional collaboration between countries and businesses continued to gather pace in 2020 in order to advance technical understanding and develop regulatory frameworks, with notably Australia and Japan making progress in terms of domestic policies and CCS investments.
• In a move that will reduce both cost and risks to government and industry, CCS hubs and clusters – the shared use of CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure among companies – is predicted to support a boom in the adoption of CCS in the coming years. CCS investments in the UK are largely geared towards hubs and cluster development, and nearly all new facilities in the US will have access to shared storage sites.

“Even as the year comes to a close, commitments to reach net zero climate targets and scale up climate mitigating technologies continues to build momentum,” commented Guloren Turan, General Manager at the Institute and one of the authors of the 2020 Global CCS Status Report.

“Last month, we saw the UK government earmark £1 billion with the goal of developing four hub and clusters by the end of the decade. In Asia Pacific, we saw national governments in China, Japan and South Korea commit to net-zero climate targets. Industrial decarbonisation is central to reaching carbon neutral goals and CCS has been, and will continue to be, a key component in making that happen,” Turan added.

While the acceleration of CCS adoption is promising, deployment of the technology is not happening quick enough to reach 2050 climate goals. CCS facilities will need to increase by more than a hundredfold by mid-century, as but one part of how the world will reach carbon neutrality. The report echoes findings by the IPCC, which shows that CCS is vital to meet net-zero Paris climate targets.

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