In line its “Technology Outlook 2030” report, DNV GL focuses on the mitigation of CO2 emissions and how the industries can deal with, looking for ways to recycle CO2, capture the emissions and store them, proposing the launch of negative emissions technologies to tackle the issue.
To deal with the environmental damage caused by the CO2 emissions, DNV GL proposes two steps to be taken:
- reduce and prevent CO2 emissions to the extent possible;
- remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it safely.
Furthermore, DNV GL proposes the negative emissions technologies that are able to remove CO2 from the atmosphere through improved land-use sinks and advanced storage technologies. These technologies – also proposed by EASAC – can play a crucial role in removing CO2 from the environment and handle the overshoot of atmospheric CO2, in order to avoid escalating climate catastrophes caused by global warming.
Negative emissions technologies are divided in two types: 1) natural technologies [based on forestry and agriculture]; 1) technology associated with energy and industry. Although the first option is less costly and easier to adopt, they are more vulnerable to release of captured CO23.
A positive negative emissions technology is permanent geological storage of CO2 from sustainable biomass, also known as BIO–CCS or BECCS. This includes the capture of CO2 energy production, waste incineration and other industries where biomass is used in production.
Natural technologies will enable the reintroduction of a part of the CO2 lost from the soil in conventional farming, by changing tilling practices and growing deep-rooted perennials rather than shallow rooted annual crop species.
On the contrary to using biomass to reduce CO2 from the atmosphere, it is achievable, although costly, to capture CO2 from the air and store it in geological formations.
CO2 can be recycled and then put to industrial use as ingredients in products, also called carbon capture and use (CCU); For the time being it has been used for the production of chemicals, plastic and carbon fibre. Potentially more promising applications for the reuse of CO2 are found in carbonate mineralization, bauxite residue carbonation, enhanced coal bed methane, renewable methanol, and CO2 carbon curing.
In sight of the global warming and the climate changes, which call for urgent actions in all sectors, politicians are now licensed to issue stricter regulations on emissions and to incentivize costly solutions.
For instance, California issued the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, providing credits to fuel producers who capture and store CO2 in the production process.
CO2 shares similar properties with oil. It can be stored in the same places, and the technology, people and jobs are to a large extent the same. Except for in California, negative emissions technologies will likely not achieve significant market penetration in the next decade, but some technologies may move beyond the experimental phase
… DNV GL addresses.
Technologies dealing with Co2 storage and capture are facing challenges and uncertainties.
Due to the weak price indications for CO2, hinder investments, innovation and research in the technologies, rendering them immature. Accordingly, the supply chain for technological solutions combined with underground storage of CO2 (BIO-CCS, DAC) is currently lacking, as is a functioning infrastructure from existing emissions points to storage sites. International agreements covering CO2 storage.
DNV GL reports that, except California, negative emissions technologies are most likely not to have any significant role in the market in the next decade; Yet, by 2030 it expects the rise of ambitious plans, political action and capital rising starting to happen for climate positive solutions for CO2.
