Onboard CCS is Paving the Way for Shipping’s Carbon-Neutral Future

iStock / SHansche

PUBLISHED APR 10, 2024 9:08 AM BY SIGURD JENSSEN

 

 

Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping is a considerable challenge, but advancements are being made to address this global issue. Onboard carbon capture and storage (CCS) stands out as a revolutionary technology for the shipping industry, offering a tangible means to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from ships. This becomes increasingly crucial as the industry navigates the development of power alternatives like hydrogen fuel cells and future fuels, such as renewable ammonia and methanol.

The regulatory landscape for onboard CCS is evolving rapidly, driven by the urgent need to reduce maritime emissions. Recent regulatory initiatives such as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), in the United States, and the European Union's Fit for 55 package – which includes shipping's integration into the EU ETS – have spurred increased investments in CCS projects.

However, the economic value of CCS compared to freely emitting CO2 requires further policy refinement. Effective regulation is essential to incentivize CCS adoption and foster technological advancements. The EU Commission's forthcoming integration of atmospheric CO2 removal and storage into emissions trading by July 2026, exemplifies proactive regulatory measures to create a predictable environment for CCS technologies' deployment, attracting investments and advancing adoption.

With the world’s first full-scale installation set for the summer of 2024, Wärtsilä is accelerating the deployment of CCS for shipping, a vital technology to mitigate climate change and deliver climate neutrality. The upcoming pilot onboard Solvang’s ethylene carrier, Clipper Eris, serves as a precursor to the commercial roll out in 2025, showcasing the technical viability of retrofitting CCS technology and refining its capabilities.

This testing phase is crucial to understanding training requirements, the value chain, and service and maintenance organisation. Once vessels equipped with CCS technology hit the water over the next few years, the highest performing systems will be able to capture up to 70% of their carbon emissions before they enter the atmosphere. Combined with alternative fuels, clean tech, and voyage optimization, achieving net-zero shipping becomes a realistic possibility.

But we didn’t get here overnight. The evolution of scrubber technology within the maritime industry has been instrumental in paving the way for onboard CCS systems. Initially developed to comply with sulphur emission regulations, scrubbers have matured into versatile systems capable of addressing a range of pollutants. By efficiently removing non-CO2 pollutants from ship exhausts, scrubbers ensure efficient pre-treatment for CO2 capture, enabling the safe storage and subsequent disposal of carbon at port facilities.

Continuous upgrades and advancements in scrubber capabilities have positioned them as critical components in tackling shipping's holistic environmental challenges. Technologies such as selective catalytic reduction systems (SCR) and exhaust gas recirculation systems (EGR) have been integrated to tackle NOx emissions, meeting stringent MARPOL Tier III requirements. Beyond regulatory compliance, scrubbers now boast the ability to filter particulate matter, black carbon, and even microplastics from scrubber washwater through advanced filtering systems.

As scrubbers continue to evolve, they not only contribute to cleaner air and oceans but also play a pivotal role in enabling the implementation of onboard CCS systems, marking a significant milestone in the maritime industry's journey towards sustainability. This progression demonstrates the industry's commitment to environmental stewardship and highlights how regulatory compliance has spurred innovation towards tackling broader environmental challenges.

Furthermore, extensive testing of Wärtsilä’s CCS system in Moss, Norway, operating at a 1 MW scale, has provided valuable insights and enabled the identification of unique challenges in designing a CCS system for ships. For example, testing the merits of different CO2 capture solvents has shown that a solvent optimised for marine engine exhaust gas can potentially achieve capture rates of up to 80%.

Whilst technological development progresses, most significant obstacles arise in the physical integration of CCS onboard ships. Challenges such as space limitations, energy requirements, storage infrastructure, and exhaust pre-treatment must be addressed for both new and existing vessels to achieve decarbonisation goals.

To tackle these issues, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment has expanded its services to offer CCS feasibility studies and provide shipowners and operators with comprehensive commercial proposals for CCS integration. These studies, spanning four to six months, involve early ship design engagement and engineering work to determine how to accommodate the power, space, and exhaust requirements of CCS onboard, ensuring minimal disruption during potential retrofitting. By closely analysing ship architecture, these studies accelerate the initial phases of CCS integration and educate customers on its benefits and complexities.

Equally important is the role being played by CCS-ready scrubbers, designed to accommodate future CCS retrofits while ensuring near-term compliance with sulphur cap regulations. These scrubbers are engineered to facilitate easy adaptation to CCS installation in the future, thus future-proofing vessels. If all ships with a Wärtsilä scrubber adopt CCS, a potential reduction in 30 million tonnes in CO2 emissions, at a 70% capture rate, could be achieved.

2024 is poised to be a hugely significant year for shipping’s decarbonisation journey, as new regulations and net-zero commitments propel industry players to increase their uptake of operational and energy efficiency technologies. However, the widespread availability of low-carbon products, which are cheaper than their high-carbon alternatives, remain a distant prospect, underscoring the urgency to accelerate the adoption of CCS technologies. In order to achieve these targets, it is imperative to share expertise, build capacity, and provide support for CCS implementation, ensuring its pivotal role in curbing GHG emissions.

As investment decisions also loom large in 2024, the CCS industry has a unique opportunity to showcase its potential in combating climate change, while fostering innovation and cost reduction. Policies such as carbon pricing and emission mandates serve as crucial enablers, not only incentivizing decarbonization but also mitigating risks associated with CCS deployment.

Against a backdrop of increasing sustainability commitments, financing CCS equipment emerges as a strategic avenue, aligning with both environmental objectives and the evolving priorities of financial institutions. Additionally, ship owners embracing carbon reduction initiatives not only gain a competitive edge in markets that are increasingly prioritizing sustainability, but also stand to attract enhanced investment capital from institutions that are factoring in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations.

Now is the time to leverage CCS deployment as a catalyst for transformative change, in both industry practices and policy frameworks, ensuring a sustainable path forward for our planet and economy alike.

Sigurd Jenssen is the Director of Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

Addressing committed emissions in both US and China requires carbon capture and storage

by Ellis Robinson, Carnegie Mellon University Materials Science and Engineering

THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-myth-of-carbon-capture-and-storage.html

ALSO SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CCS

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Stabilizing global temperatures will require deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide. Recent integrated assessments of global climate change show that CO2 emissions must approach net-zero by mid-century to avoid exceeding the 1.5°C climate target. However, "committed emissions," those emissions projected from existing fossil fuel infrastructure operating as they have historically, already threaten that 1.5°C goal. With the average lifespan of a coal plant being over 40 years, proposed or under-construction power plants only add to that burden, further increasing the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The deep decarbonization required for net-zero emissions will require existing and proposed fossil-energy infrastructure to follow one of two pathways: either prematurely retiring or capturing and storing their emissions, thus preventing their release into the atmosphere. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), represents the only major viable path for fossil-fuel plants to be net-zero, short of being shuttered.

In a Viewpoint Article recently published in Environmental Science & Technology, Haibo Zhai outlines how the U.S. and China, the world's two largest emitters, should address their committed emissions. "In both countries, CCS retrofits to existing infrastructure are essential for reducing emissions to net-zero," said Zhai, an Associate Research Professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. However, differences in the power-plant fleets and the energy mix in the two countries point to separate routes for achieving deep decarbonization.

In the U.S., the energy landscape has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Coal was the dominant source of electricity (51% of total power generation in 2000) for most of the twentieth century, but has recently been displaced by cheap and abundant natural gas as well as growth in renewables. Coal accounted for just 27% of U.S. power generation in 2019. Coal's decline is expected to continue in favor of cheaper alternatives, due to the U.S."s relatively old (40 years) and inefficient (32% efficiency) fleet of coal-fired plants.

Zhai does not see CCS retrofits to U.S coal plants as a fleet-wide approach to decarbonization, though there is potential for partial capture at the most efficient plants. CCS development should instead be focused on combined-cycle natural gas plant retrofits. "Natural gas has helped reduce the carbon intensity of the U.S. power sector, but this wave of new gas plants still represents a significant amount of committed emissions," said Zhai.

China is the opposite of the U.S. in terms of its energy mix and its fossil energy infrastructure. Coal supplies almost 65% of the nation's electricity. Coal-fired plants in China have a median age of only 12 years and much higher efficiencies (often greater than 40%) compared to the U.S. "Such a young fleet is unlikely to be phased out anytime soon," said Zhai. "Any path for China to achieve deep decarbonization must include CCS retrofits to its recently-built coal plants."

Despite the necessity of CCS, the technology has not been proven on a large scale and remains very costly. Only two commercial-scale CCS projects currently operate in the world: Petra Nova in the U.S. and Boundary Dam in Canada. Current CCS technologies have high energy and capital costs associated with separating CO2 out of process waste streams.

CCS, according to Zhai, currently sits on the steep part of the "learning curve." With any technology first-of-a-kind deployments are always expensive. However, industry-wide learning—through technology developments such as improved separation materials and processes, supply chain expansion, and increases in operational efficiency—makes latter deployments cheaper. Moving down the learning curve represents a kind of chicken and egg dilemma for CCS: to be widely deployed, it needs to be cheap. And for CCS to be cheap, it needs to have been deployed.

Therefore, there is a strong reason that governments should incentivize early adoption of CCS through regulatory, economic, and policy means, argues Zhai. He points to case studies of other low-carbon technologies, like photovoltaic solar panels, that have become cost-competitive after incentives helped lower high initial costs. Because early deployment is required to make future deployment economical, the time to act is now, he says.

"If you accept the premise that committed emissions are a problem, there is no choice other than CCS," he said. "And incentives are required to kick-start deployment of CCS on the scale needed to address the issue."

In the U.S., Zhai points to incentives for retrofitting natural gas-fired plants with CCS, expecting market forces to address the committed emissions from coal-fired plants, as the aging coal fleet continues to phase out. Zhai's article points to a tax credit for carbon sequestration in the U.S. as a major policy lever to incentivize these CCS efforts.

In China, on the other hand, CCS development for coal plant retrofits should be the major focus. There, Zhai notes that the national emissions trading system, where emitters can buy or sell CO2 emissions credits, will be the major policy lever that can spur development of mitigation technologies. In both cases, the current high costs of CCS point to government policies as a key step in overcoming the expensive initial phases of deployment.

Major co-benefits of incentivizing CCS development for existing fossil-fuel infrastructure are the role CCS will likely play in certain negative emissions technologies (NETs) and a decreased dependence on expensive NETs in the future. Bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), for instance, is outlined as the most prominent NET option. However, a key subsystem for any BECCS is CCS. Developing CCS now, argues Zhai, means that BECCS will be poised to help address global climate change in the future.

Haibo Zhai. Deep Reductions of Committed Emissions from Existing Power Infrastructure: Potential Paths in the United States and China, Environmental Science & Technology (2019). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b06858

Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology 

Big Oil’s Carbon Capture Conundrum

Many energy experts and environmentalists worry that the huge rush to fund CCS tech is a dangerous distraction. 

Editor OilPrice.com
Sat, 20 April 2024 


Hard-to-abate industries, particularly oil and gas, are racing to increase their carbon capture capacity as they strive to decarbonise operations. Despite being some of the biggest carbon emitters, many oil and gas majors are optimistic they can dramatically reduce their emissions by using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This is, realistically, one of the few ways that oil and gas companies can reduce while keeping their fossil fuel output high. However, energy experts and environmentalists are now worried that Big Oil is becoming overly reliant on CCS tech instead of striving for meaningful change towards a green transition.

CCS technology has been around for years but has so far not succeeded in capturing carbon dioxide at the rate required to decarbonise large-scale hard-to-abate operations. Companies and governments worldwide have pumped huge quantities of funding into CCS in recent years in a bid to develop the technology required to effectively capture and store huge amounts of CO2 from industrial and oil and gas operations. However, scientists are still uncertain about whether today’s technology can capture the massive quantity of carbon emissions that many oil majors are promising.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has deemed CCS technology as “critical” to achieving net-zero emissions around the globe. It is viewed as one of the few possible ways to decarbonise hard-to-abate industries that we continue to rely on until alternative production methods and materials are developed. The IEA also warned that it is not sustainable for oil and gas companies to mitigate major new fossil fuel projects simply by incorporating CCS tech into operations. Many oil majors have invested heavily in CCS tech to justify their ongoing exploration activities and huge oil and gas output, which is expected to continue for decades to come. But the IEA has repeatedly stated that this is at odds with a net-zero scenario by 2050.

CCS typically works by using chemical absorption to capture the CO2 emitted from a chimney at a facility. The emissions are then condensed into a liquid to be transported through a pipeline to be stored thousands of feet underground in depleted oil wells or geological formations. This process is anything but straightforward and rolling out CCS tech on a commercial scale is both complicated and expensive. According to the IEA, more than one billion metric tonnes of CO2 must be captured annually by 2030, which is over 20 times that captured in 2022. This figure rises to six billion tonnes in 2050, around 130 times more than in 2022.

Despite big promises, many companies are falling short of their carbon capture targets. To date, only five percent of announced CCS projects have reached a final investment decision, according to the IEA. There is still little evidence to suggest that CCS tech can be rolled out economically on a commercial scale.

Oil and gas companies have earmarked significant funds for CCS tech over the coming years, in the hope that will be able to continue pumping oil and gas for decades to come. Chevron expects to spend $10 billion on emissions-reducing technologies, while Exxon has pledged an investment of $20 billion. The projected total spending on CCS projects is around $241 billion globally by 2030. The U.S. and the U.K. are currently leading these efforts with investment pipelines of $85 billion and $45 billion, respectively, by 2030.

Many energy experts and environmentalists worry that the huge rush to fund CCS tech is a dangerous distraction. Oil and gas companies have been forced to accelerate their ESG efforts due to pressure from governments and international organisations, as well as high consumer expectations. However, most of these companies expect oil and gas production to continue to be their principal activity for the coming decades, meaning they need a quick way to decarbonise operations without cutting output. Without a proven track record, this could be a dangerous approach to decarbonising as, if CCS tech does not live up to expectations, it could have dire repercussions.

CCS technology is still extremely expensive, and it has a poor track record of working as effectively as anticipated. 

One 2022 study of CCS projects found that more were failing than succeeding, including Chevron’s Gorgon liquefied natural gas facility in Australia. This is the world’s biggest CCS project to date, at a cost of $3 billion, and it was found to be working at just a third of its expected capacity. At this rate, it will be impossible for companies that are relying on CCS tech to meet their climate targets in the coming years. Nevertheless, oil and gas companies worldwide continue to make bold claims about the potential for CCS tech, without sufficient evidence to back it up. The failure of CCS technologies in oil and gas operations could be catastrophic, leading to much higher-than-anticipated carbon emissions and contributing to a delay in the global green transition.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CCS 

 

Wärtsilä Offers Onboard Carbon Capture and Storage Feasibility Studies

With CCS-Ready scrubbers now being sold at pace, Wärtsilä’s studies across a range of vessel types come as next step in rapidly accelerating trajectory for CCS in shipping

Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment's engineers examine CCS performance in the company's test hall in Moss, Norway © Wärtsilä

PUBLISHED AUG 29, 2023 6:57 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

[By: Wärtsilä]

Technology group Wärtsilä is now offering carbon capture and storage (CCS) feasibility studies to shipowners and operators, in another milestone on its journey to research, develop and bring to market maritime CCS technologies. The studies have already been conducted on a range of vessel types including ro-ro and ro-pax vessels, a drill ship, a container vessel and a gas carrier.

The process takes four to six months of study and design work. Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment’s experts are involved in ship design at an early stage to conduct engineering work to understand how CCS can be smoothly integrated once the technology is launched to market.

Wärtsilä is conducting the feasibility studies across both newbuild and existing vessels. Retrofit CCS installations will be significantly smoothed by the presence of a scrubber onboard. Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment is already offering CCS-Ready scrubbers to the market, which are integrated onboard in a way that enables a CCS system to be added easily in the future once the technology is commercialised.

Once completed, the CCS feasibility study work enables Wärtsilä to provide customers with a fully rounded commercial offer that can be shared with shipyards to get an exact quote for installation. During the feasibility studies, Wärtsilä’s experts closely examine the existing naval architecture of the ship and work to understand how the power, space and exhaust demands of CCS can be accommodated onboard. Owners will receive a qualified analysis of the costs of CCS integration, and a clear list of considerations on how a potential retrofit would be conducted in the least intrusive way.

Conducting the studies today enables Wärtsilä to bring forward the early stages of CCS integration and, in doing so, lower the barrier to entry once the technology is commercialised in the near future. The studies also serve to educate customers on the upsides and particular considerations associated with installing CCS onboard their vessels. Finally, as the studies will run in parallel with the implementation of new environmental regulations for shipping, owners who conduct them today will be ‘ahead of the curve’ versus their peers.

Sigurd Jenssen, Director, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment, said: “Launching these feasibility studies and being able to offer them to market is the exciting latest step in our process of bringing carbon capture and storage to market in shipping. It builds on the market-leading work we are conducting in our test hall in Moss, where our technology is already demonstrating our targeted 70% capture rate, and enables us to directly engage with customers to smooth the CCS adoption process in the near future.”

Jenssen continued: “By conducting these studies today, we are already building a considerable track record and understanding of how this technology will work across multiple vessel types. It builds on the considerable uptake we have already seen for our CCS-Ready scrubbers, which show that the industry is not only exploring CCS as a speculative technology, but is actively investing in its foundations as a decarbonisation solution. We look forward to conducting more of these studies in the coming months as we work to bring our CCS system to market.”

When a customer opts for a Wärtsilä CCS-Ready scrubber, the company takes measures during the scrubber installation process to ensure adequate space for the future installation of CCS system. CCS-Ready scrubbers are also designed to enable smooth integration with a Particulate Matter filter.

Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment is the market-leading marine exhaust gas cleaning system manufacturer, with a range of lifecycle solutions. Wärtsilä offers integrated compliant solutions for all types of ships, and in open loop, closed loop or hybrid configurations. Wärtsilä’s scrubbers are built with a modular approach to future technology development, creating a platform for the abatement of other emissions from shipping beyond sulphur.

Denmark Allocates $3.9B to Carbon Capture/Storage as it Accelerates Timing

With Avedore as a backdrop, Denmark outlined a comprehensive approach to carbon capture and storage advancing the deadline to 2029 (Orsted file photo)

PUBLISHED AUG 21, 2023 6:21 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Denmark announced a comprehensive plan for carbon capture and storage that includes significant government support as the country also accelerates its timeline while saying that CO2 capture and storage is one of several critical tools to achieve climate goals in Denmark, Europe, and the rest of the world. The announcement of the new plan comes just a week after Denmark postponed its second tender for offshore CO2 storage saying the government needed to finalize a comprehensive plan that resolved government participation in the industry.

“We are moving the requirement for full capture from 2030 to 2029 so that we get more CO2 from the air and into the underground faster,” said says Climate, Energy and Supply Minister Lars Aagaard during a briefing about the new plan at Avedøreværket, a power station just south of Copenhagen. “The plan must also ensure a clearer framework for the burgeoning industry and in this way bring the Danish CCS industry up in scale and down in price. It may well be that it's geeky, but it's in the geekery that things happen.”

The plan was presented as a comprehensive approach to with the government stressing that by pooling resources and creating clear framework conditions for CO2 capture and storage it was providing clarity to Danish industry. The energy minister was joined by Business Minister Morten Bødskov and Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen in presenting the new plan.

Instead of smaller tenders, the government plans to launch two large, comprehensive tenders, one in 2024 and a second in 2025. They plan to invest approximately $3.9 billion, with approximately $1.5 billion for the 2024 tender and a further nearly $2.4 billion in 2025 allocated over a 15-year period to support the programs. The goal for 2024 is to set up plans for 0.9 million tons of carbon capture and storage and a further 1.4 million tons in the 2025 tender.  Going forward the government will continue to hold 20 percent state ownership, which is the model that was used for the first three licenses and the key point that the ministry said needed to be resolved before the next offshore tender.

While saying as a country Denmark must capture at least 3.2 million tons of CO2 annually by 2030, the new plan moves forward by one year the requirement for the programs to 2029. They said the possibility is also provided to start the large-scale capture and storage efforts by 2028.

The plan also ensures clear framework conditions for the industry regarding ownership and regulation for the transport of CO2 via pipes. Among other things, the government said it will expand the existing rules for the transport of CO2 to include all forms of CO2 transport, which is particularly important for the transport of CO2 for use in PtX facilities and for CO2 that must be shipped via ports for offshore storage.

The goal in addition to providing greater clarity was to increase the size and scope so that more companies can bid and participate in the efforts.

Denmark earlier this year awarded the first exploration licenses for offshore carbon storage after providing a provisional license for the testing and demonstration of the world’s first offshore storage operation. In addition, they awarded the first licenses for industrial plants to establish capture initiatives first centered on one of Ørsted’s plants but designed to also create the infrastructure for other industrial emitters to participate. 

Carbon Capture Is Coming Under Fire For Underperforming

Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, February 9, 2023

There has been a lot of hype around carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the last few years. Many energy companies and governments have touted CCS as the potential savior of oil and gas in a decarbonized world. As political powers around the globe race to decarbonize their economies in the transition away from fossil fuels to green alternatives, CCS has been seen as a way of bridging the gap in the transition, as renewable energy operations continue to expand. CCS technologies are being incorporated into oil and gas projects to help reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, allowing energy firms to continue producing fossil fuels while the global demand remains high. While many see this as a necessary move to maintain energy security, others believe CCS is just another form of greenwashing, helping to delay the inevitable shift to real green.

Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have highlighted the use of CCS technology in oil and gas projects as important for emissions reduction, a necessary stage in the transition to clean energy. It is seen as an easy way to reduce emissions while still providing the energy needed to meet the global demand before enough renewable energy projects are in operation to supply this energy. However, as the public is being told that CCS will help decarbonize operations, few questions are being asked about the scale of this technology and its ability to remove carbon effectively.

National decarbonization aims and carbon taxes have put pressure on oil and gas firms to make a change, with many quickly investing in CCS technology to ensure they can keep running their fossil fuel operations. But now experts are worried that people are seeing CCS as a silver bullet to climate change, with its use for decarbonization having been highly exaggerated. A 2022 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) revealed that CCS projects were underperforming, with significant challenges in terms of the technology and regulatory framework. The analysis of several projects showed that approximately 90 percent of the proposed CCS capacity in the power sector has not been realized, and many projects fail to achieve their anticipated maximum capture rates.

Bruce Robertson, an author of the report, stated “Many international bodies and national governments are relying on carbon capture in the fossil fuel sector to get to net zero, and it simply won’t work.” He added, “Although it might have a role to play in hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, fertilisers and steel, overall results indicate a financial, technical and emissions-reduction framework that continues to overstate and underperform.”

In 2019, there were 59 CCS plants in operation worldwide, capable of removing over 40 million tonnes of CO2 on an annual basis. This was just a fraction of the carbon that was being released each year, which amounted to around 43 billion tonnes, or 1,000 times more. In addition, the high cost of CCS technology has long deterred many companies from using the decarbonization method more widely.

CCS has existed since the 1970s, although it was previously called enhanced oil recovery. But seeing the potential for CCS to be viewed as a mechanism for climate change action, it was rebranded by energy firms as ‘carbon capture utilization and storage’. Yet, in 2022, around 70 percent of CCS projects used captured CO2 to support the production of more oil and gas.

In Port Isabel, Texas, climate activists are now campaigning against a $10 billion project to export liquefied natural gas, Rio Grande LNG. The developer, NextDecade, has labeled the plant the “greenest LNG project in the world”, thanks to the incorporation of CCS technology into operations. But environmentalists say that calling the project ‘clean’ is an outright lie and a clear case of greenwashing. NextDecade plans to construct one of the biggest CCS systems in North America, to remove 5 million tonnes of CO2 a year, reducing its emissions from gas cooling by around 90 percent. However, gas cooling only accounts for between 6% and 7% of the plant’s emissions, meaning that a large quantity of waste CO2 is not being accounted for.

And despite high hopes for CCS in the transition to green, at least in the mid-term, environmentalists worldwide are now worried that as Big Oil declines, another giant industry – that continues to contribute to climate change – will emerge. One media outlet said that “Big Oil has given way to Big Suck.” And of course, there is wide public support for a technology that’s being viewed as a major decarboniser that helps boost the world’s energy security. As CCS continues to be used to support the provision of lower-carbon fossil fuels, which are still in high demand, it is unlikely that governments will demonize its use. However, it should be viewed as a temporary solution rather than a long-term fix in the transition to green, to avoid the longevity of oil and gas operations beyond their need.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

‘A shocking failure’: Chevron criticised for missing carbon capture target at WA gas project


The Western Australian environment minister is seeking an explanation after the energy company fell short of its five-year target

The Chevron gas project under construction on Barrow Island off Western Australia in 2016. Chevron Australia is facing criticism for missing its five-year carbon capture and storage target. Photograph: Ray Strange/AAP

Adam Morton 

Climate and environment editor

THE GUARDIAN
Mon 19 Jul 2021 

The energy giant Chevron has conceded its self-described world’s biggest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has failed to meet a five-year target for burying carbon dioxide under an island off Western Australia.

Climate campaigners believe the company should be heavily fined after it acknowledged on Monday that it had not met a requirement to capture and inject underground at least 80% of emissions from a gas reservoir over the first five years of the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) development

The Western Australian environment minister, Amber-Jade Sanderson, said through a spokesperson that she had called Chevron in for a meeting “to seek an explanation of how the company intends to address the issue”.

An analysis last year suggested Chevron could face a bill of more than A$100m if required to offset all emissions that breached its approval requirements.

Chevron Australia, which operates the Gorgon facility on behalf of partners including Shell and ExxonMobil, issued a statement saying it was “poised to reach a significant milestone” of injecting 5m tonnes of greenhouse gas more than 2km beneath Barrow Island since sequestration belatedly began in August 2019.


Gas and coal companies among recipients of $50m in Coalition grants from carbon capture fund

The company’s Australian boss Mark Hatfield said this showed the company was “deploying technology, innovation and skills to deliver cleaner energy and reduce our carbon footprint”.

“The road hasn’t always been smooth, but the challenges we’ve faced and overcome make it easier for those who aspire to reduce their emissions through CCS,” he said.

Hatfield said the company would work with the WA regulator on how to “make up the shortfall”, which he did not quantify. Chevron Australia would release a report on the issue later this year, he said.

Ian Porter, a former oil and gas industry executive who is chair of the advocacy group Sustainable Energy Now WA, said the report was likely to find the project had captured only 30% of what it was supposed to.

He said the report would be a “major test case for CCS technology”, which the Morrison government is backing as one of five priorities under what it calls a “technology, not taxes” approach to emissions reduction.

“It’s a shocking failure of one of the world’s largest engineering projects,” Porter said.

“Chevron needs to face significant fines and be forced to offset the more than six million tonnes of unauthorised legacy carbon dioxide releases.

“I sincerely hope CCS does work one day. Ultimately, we need it. But until that time, it is reckless and disingenuous for the industry to keep pretending that it can expand operations and reach net zero.”


Western Australia LNG plant faces calls to shut down until faulty carbon capture system is fixed

Angus Taylor, the federal energy and emissions reduction minister, last year referred to Gorgon as an example of CCS “already working”, describing it as “the biggest project in the world”.

The $3bn development, which received $60m in federal funding, has had a troubled history. It was initially delayed for more than three years due to technical setbacks and the CCS system stopped working properly earlier this year following a problem with a pressure management system.

Under its terms of approval, the development was expected to capture and bury about 4m tonnes a year to meet a target of sequestering 80% of reservoir gas across a rolling five year period.

An aerial view of terminal tanks at the northern end of Barrow Island, the site of Chevron’s gas project. Photograph: Bill Hatto/AAP

The company was not required to capture emissions released during LNG processing. It means a fully successful CCS facility would reduce total emissions from Gorgon by only about 40%.

Despite Chevron missing its target, the oil and gas industry lobby group said the company’s announcement showed the industry was “continuing to walk the walk when it comes to reducing emissions”.

Andrew McConville, the chief executive of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, said: “Chevron’s announcement is on top of all the work our industry is already doing to combat climate change.”

New LNG developments have led to a significant increase in national industrial emissions over the past decade. They have limited the benefits of reduced carbon pollution from Australia’s electricity generation thanks to more solar and wind energy.

Official data shows the Gorgon facility has twice breached its initial emissions limit under the safeguard mechanism, a federal government policy that was promised to cap industrial carbon pollution but has allowed continued increases.

When the scheme started in 2016-17, Gorgon’s annual emissions limit – known as a baseline – was 8.34m tonnes of CO2.

It released 9.02m tonnes in 2017-18 and 8.97m tonnes in 2018-19, the most recent year for which data is available. Rather than be penalised for the breaches, it was allowed to set a new baseline calculated across a three-year period.

Separate official data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows Chevron was responsible for more than 10.2m tonnes of CO2 in 2019-20, making it Australia’s eighth-biggest emitter.

 

Chevron’s Carbon Capture Struggle Shows Big Oil’s Climate Hurdle

Bloomberg

July 19, 2021

By Stephen Stapczynski (Bloomberg) —

The world’s biggest project to capture and store carbon dioxide isn’t working like it should, highlighting the challenges oil companies face in tackling their greenhouse gas emissions.

Chevron Corp.’s system at the $54 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas export plant in Australia missed a local government target to inject captured carbon dioxide underground, the San Ramon, California-based company said Monday. That’s a setback for energy companies globally that have staked their net-zero futures on the technology, which has shown limited success to date.

While Chevron has sequestered almost 5 million tons of carbon dioxide since the capture project began in August 2019, that’s fallen short of a target to capture an average 80% of emissions in the first five years of the LNG facility’s operation.

“Chevron is working with the Western Australia regulator on making up the shortfall,” the company’s Australia Managing Director Mark Hatfield said in a statement.

The company has buried only 30% of about 15 million tons of CO2 generated since Gorgon began producing gas in March 2016, oil industry publication Boiling Cold reported Friday.

Oil and natural gas producers are counting on carbon capture, or CCS, to succeed as they come under greater scrutiny from investors and governments to lower emissions. To limit global warming, about 10,000 large CCS facilities need to be built over the next five decades, according to Royal Dutch Shell Plc. There were fewer than 50 in operation last year.

Shell and ExxonMobil Corp. each hold 25% of Gorgon LNG, while Chevron has just over 47%.

Gorgon’s multibillion-dollar CCS project has been beset with technical issues, including problems with its pressure management system, according to Boiling Cold.

Instead of venting the CO2 into the atmosphere, which is the industry norm, Chevron’s plant is designed to manage pollution that’s produced from the offshore fields that feed the LNG facility. As the gas is sent to be liquefied for export, the CO2 is pumped into a reservoir more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) underground.

Western Australia’s government insisted on the CCS facility as a condition for approving Gorgon, which is expected to run for four decades. The state’s regulator has requested details on why Chevron missed its target, and Western Australia’s Environment Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson is seeking a meeting with the company.

“Gorgon’s failure poses a major problem for any oil and gas company betting on CCS to meet net zero,” said Ian Porter, the chairperson of Sustainable Energy Now, WA. “CCS simply does not work at the scale and at the price needed.”

–With assistance from James Thornhill.

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Blow for CCS: Chevron's giant carbon capture project falling short of targets

Operator fails to meet requirements under Gorgon's project approvals to sequester at least 80% of CO2 emissions in first five years of operation


Missing CCS targets: Chevron's Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia Photo: CHEVRON

US supermajor Chevron has failed to meet its emission reduction targets at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia after a troubled start to the carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility.

Chevron confirmed on Monday that it was not going to meet its promised injection rates, with the project only capturing a fraction of the carbon dioxide expected during its first five years of operation.

Under the terms of Gorgon’s project approval, Chevron is required to sequester at least 80% of the CO2 emissions released from the reservoirs that feed the Gorgon LNG plant over a five-year period.

While the first train at Gorgon came online in 2016, issues with the CCS facility did not see it start up until 2019 and continued issues have prevented the facility from operating reliably.

The facility is designed to capture 4 million tonnes per annum of CO2, however, Chevron confirmed Monday that only 5 million tonnes of CO2 had been injected since the August 2019 start-up.
'Shocking failure' for CCS

Renewable energy thinktank, Sustainable Energy Now, believes Chevron's initial five-year report will find Gorgon’s CCS facility only managed to capture 30% of the CO2 it promised.


Emission increase: Chevron faces more Gorgon CCS issuesRead more

“It’s a shocking failure of one of the world’s largest engineering projects. But, given the lack of rigour and testing around the technology that was used, I cannot say it is unexpected,” chairperson of Sustainable Energy Now, WA, Ian Porter said.

“Chevron needs to face significant fines and be forced to offset the more than 6 million tonnes of unauthorised legacy carbon dioxide releases. Gorgon’s failure poses a major problem for any oil and gas company betting on CCS to meet net zero.”

Porter added that he believed oil and gas companies were being “overly optimistic” in their assumptions for the potential success of CCS in order to argue for the expansion of oil and gas extraction.

“CCS simply does not work at the scale and at the price needed to undo the damage that will be created by these projects,” he claimed.

“I sincerely hope CCS does work one day. Ultimately, we need it. But until that time, it is reckless and disingenuous for the industry to keep pretending that it can expand operations and reach net zero.”


Gas producers work to earn their role in energy transitionRead more

Sharing lessons learned

Chevron Australia managing director Mark Hatfield admitted Gorgon had not met its CO2 injection requirements, adding the company was working with the West Australian regulator on making up the shortfall, with details on how the shortfall will be met to be released later this year.

“Like any pioneering endeavour, it takes time to optimise a new system to ensure it performs reliably over 40-plus years of operation. The road hasn’t always been smooth, but the challenges we’ve faced — and overcome — make it easier for those who aspire to reduce their emissions through CCS,” he added.

“We’re committed to sharing the lessons we’ve learned with state and federal governments, research institutes and other energy producers to assist the deployment of CCS in Australia.

“CCS is a proven technology which experts agree is critical to achieving a lower carbon future while ensuring access to affordable and reliable energy for billions around the world who rely on it.”


Hydrogen and CCS take centre stage in Australia's shift to net zeroRead more

While it may have fallen short of its target, Chevron claims the 5 million tonnes captured since the facility’s 2019 start-up represents the largest volume of injection achieved over the same time period by any CCS system globally, with comparable specifications.

"This significant milestone shows how we’re deploying technology, innovation and skills to deliver cleaner energy and reduce our carbon footprint,” Hafield stated.

“The Gorgon carbon capture and storage system is the biggest CCS system designed to capture carbon emissions and is demonstrating Australia’s world-leading capability in the area.”



Industry group the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) chose not to focus on the project missing its emission reduction requirements, instead highlighting the total the project had been able to successfully sequester.

“Our industry is walking the walk when it comes to reducing emissions. Injecting 5 million tonnes of CO2e is equivalent to taking more than 1.6 million passenger vehicles off Australia’s roads for a year,” APPEA chief executive Andrew McConville stated.


IEA report: Electricity, hydrogen and CCS to dominateRead more

“The Australian oil and gas industry is a world leader in the practical deployment of carbon capture and storage. In Australia, the oil and gas industry has been at the leading edge of researching and deploying CCS and greenhouse gas storage technologies.”

He claimed CCS would help further reduce the nation's emissions, while also providing a pathway to a large-scale clean hydrogen industry.

“CCS shows that technology can be used to further reduce Australia’s emissions and allows our industry to keep supplying electricity generation and being used for products such as clothes, computers, phones, fertilisers and vital medical equipment such as heart valves,” McConville stated.


Carbon footprint of LNG to become key differentiatorRead more

The Gorgon CCS project sees CO2 separated from the gas stream before processing and liquefaction on Barrow Island, and, instead of being flared, it is then injected into the Jurassic Dupuy Formation at a depth of about 2.5 kilometres.

The project includes nine CO2 injection wells at three drill centres, two pressure management drill centres, two reservoir surveillance wells, a seven-kilometre underground pipeline from the LNG plant site to the drill centres and three CO2 compressor modules.

Chevron has previously claimed the CO2 injection system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Gorgon project by about 40%, or more than 100 million tonnes over the life of the project.

Chevron operates the Gorgon project with a 47.3% interest and is partnered by ExxonMobil and Shell, each on 25%, Osaka Gas on 1.25%, Tokyo Gas on 1% and Jera on 0.417%.(Copyright)

Read more

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Carbon Capture Technology And Its Growing Role in Decarbonisation

By Felicity Bradstock - Mar 25, 2023

• CCS technology is gaining popularity among companies worldwide to decarbonize their operations and avoid carbon taxes.
• 
  
• The International Energy Agency sees CCS as key to the decarbonization of fossil fuel operations and industrial processes, particularly useful as a bridge to greater renewable energy production.
• 
  
• Improved political policies and regulatory frameworks are required to ensure effective rollout of the technology to support a green transition.

With a greater number of climate policies coming into place worldwide, from the Biden Administration’s IRA to the European Union’s New Green Deal, companies are feeling mounting pressure to decarbonise. And while some are doing it to enhance their ESG practices and futureproof their business, others are concerned about rising carbon taxes, which could slash their profits. So, as well as introducing green energy technology, many are turning to carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to support their decarbonisation efforts. Big Oil is pumping billions into CCS equipment at operations around the globe to keep production ‘low-carbon oil’, while other industries, such as manufacturing, are looking to the technology to help clean up operations.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) sees CCS technology as key to the decarbonisation of fossil fuel operations and industrial processes, particularly useful as a bridge to greater renewable energy production. By 2021, the total annual carbon capture capacity stood at close to 45?Mt?of CO2, a figure that is expected to increase substantially with approximately 300 projects under construction. CCS equipment could capture more than 220 Mt CO2 a year by 2030. This will help companies achieve net-zero ambitions when paired with renewable energy technologies. 

By 2022, 35 commercial facilities were using CCS for industrial processes, fuel transformation, and power generation. Deployment of the technology has been slow to date but investment in the sector is rising sharply, as companies look for ways to reduce their carbon output, improve their ESG practices, and avoid carbon taxes, to support a green transition. However, improved political policies and regulatory frameworks are required to ensure the effective rollout of the technology, in line with climate policies.

Related: Latin America’s Bid To Challenge China’s Dominance In The Lithium Market

According to research by Wood Mackenzie, 2023 will be a milestone year for CCS. The global CCS pipeline rose by more than 50 percent in 2022, with projects planned across several industrial sectors. In recent years, government funding of up to 50 percent has helped CCS projects get off the ground, a trend that is expected to continue. The U.S. government has so far committed $3.7 billion to finance CCS projects and meet its net-zero goal by 2050. The introduction of new climate policies worldwide will also support the uptake of the technology. 

In terms of how the CO2 is used, much of the sequestered carbon is currently going to enhanced oil recovery operations at present, responding to the ongoing need for fossil fuels to ensure energy security worldwide. However, as green energy capacity increases worldwide, much of the CO2 will go to designated storage sites, with 66 percent expected to be pumped deep underground by 2030. New legislation and supporting incentives for CO2 utilisation will encourage this change. 

David Lluis Madrid, the CCUS analyst at BloombergNEF (BNEF), explained, “CCS is starting to overcome its bad reputation.” Madrid added, “It is now being deployed as a decarbonization tool, which means the CO2 needs to be stored. A lack of CO2 transport and storage sites near industrial or power generation point sources could be a major bottleneck to CCS development. But we are already seeing a big increase in these projects to serve that need.” 

One of many projects underway globally is an innovative CCS offshore site, the Greensand project, in the Danish part of the North Sea, where construction began this month. CO2 captured in Belgium will be transported via ship for injection in a depleted oil field, located 120 miles from the North Sea coast. The project is being undertaken by a consortium of companies including Germany’s Wintershall Dea and Britain’s INEOS. It is considered to be the world’s first cross-border offshore carbon dioxide storage with the explicit purpose of tackling climate change.  

Meanwhile, in Norway, a joint venture between Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell is also underway. The Northern Lights project will see 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 injected into saline aquifer near the Troll gas field annually, starting in 2024. In the U.K., the Accorn CCS project is being launched off the coast of Scotland, aimed at creating an annual capacity of 5-10 mtpa of CO2 by 2030. The project is being operated by Storegga, Shell, Harbour Energy and North Sea Midstream Partners. And in the Netherlands, the Porthos project by the Port of Rotterdam, Gasunie, and EBN is expected to provide a storage capacity of 2.5 mtpa of CO2. Porthos will be located in depleted Dutch gas fields in the North Sea, with operations expected to start in 2026.  

Many companies worldwide are now looking to CCS technologies to help them achieve decarbonisation aims without giving up on their traditional operations. The rollout of CCS around the globe will be supported by new climate policies, decarbonisation incentives, and better regulation of the industry. In addition, greater public funding for CCS projects is expected to spur private investment in the sector and boost the world’s CO2storage capacity significantly in the coming decades.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com