Carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions could address about 42% of the world’s total dirty footprint, Norwegian intelligence firm Rystad Energy said in its monthly Energy Transition Report.
The release came as the adaptation of renewable energy technologies is accelerating, even during the pandemic, and three contenders – carbon capture and storage (CCS), battery storage and hydrogen – have begun a competitive race to reduce emissions.
After analyzing the full scope of global CO2 emissions, Rystad has concluded that CCS solutions could address about 42% of the world’s total dirty footprint, but will likely not reach its full potential, as competing hydrogen and battery societies will also target their fair share of the global pie.
The core applications for CCS are within natural gas processing, power generation, hydrogen production (steam methane reforming or SMR), and industrial processes. Today, the vast majority is related to natural gas processing and hydrogen production for use in refining and fertilizer production.
Not surprisingly, we find the largest CCS potential in China, India and the US, where power and combustion outweigh process emissions. The power sector, although significant, is less likely to utilize CCS than industry, as renewable energy – given the fast decline in costs – outcompetes some CCS projects in the power sector,
…explains Marius Foss, senior vice president and head of global energy systems at Rystad Energy.
Meanwhile, the report finds, country-level net zero targets have become the new energy trend and are booming globally. A Rystad Energy tally shows that countries with announced net zero targets doubled within one year, reaching a total of 16 in 2020, from 8 in 2019.
Some energy producers, industrial groups and big tech companies also joined the net zero race and have set their own such targets.
A Rystad Energy analysis shows that the targets Big 5 tech firms, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have set, will potentially reduce their combined emissions by a cumulative 108.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e).
