Explainer: How industry is depending on carbon capture technology for climate goals

Network CN

29/08/2022 11:12

By Cassandra Garrison
    Aug 29 (Reuters) - Norwegian carbon dioxide (CO2) storage
company Northern Lights and its owners have agreed to store
emissions captured at fertiliser-maker Yara's  YAR.OL  Dutch
operation from 2025 in what they say is a commercial
breakthrough for the business.
    The joint venture founded by oil firms Equinor  EQNR.OL ,
TotalEnergies  TTEF.PA  and Shell  SHEL.L  plans to inject CO2
from industrial plants into rock formations beneath the North
Sea ocean floor.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3050GU
    Industries from cement to mining are creating plans to cap
and cut their planet-warming emissions, and many depend on 
carbon capture.
    There are two main types of carbon capture and storage:
Point-source carbon capture and storage (CCS) sequesters CO2
produced at the source, like a smokestack, while direct air
capture (DAC) removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. 
    Captured CO2 usually is permanently stored underground,
although carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) reuses
the CO2.
    Several groups see a need for billions of tonnes of storage
by mid-century; Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) expects a $2 trillion
market by 2040.
    Here's how four other large industries, all major carbon
emitters, are using CCS technology.

CEMENT AND CONCRETE
    Cement and concrete production accounts for about 8% of
global CO2 emissions. 
    The Global Cement and Concrete Association recently
announced a road map to net-zero cement by 2050 and pledged 10
industrial-scale carbon capture plants by 2030.
    Carbon capture technology is the "elephant in the room,"
Fernando Gonzalez, chief executive of Mexico's Cemex, said in a
company presentation this month, referring to the challenges
around developing the technology.

IRON AND STEEL
    The process of making iron and steel is energy- and carbon-
intensive due to the use of fossil fuels like coal to power
blast furnaces, and output has grown in recent years.
    To hit emissions targets, 75% of CO2 produced globally by
the sector needs to be captured, according to the World Steel
Association. That equates to 14 steel plants with CCS technology
built every year from 2030 to 2070. Currently, the world has
only one large-scale iron and steel facility with CCS.
    ArcelorMittal  MT.LU , one of the world's largest
steelmakers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year with
Air Liquide, a France-based industrial gases company, to develop
carbon capture technologies with the aim of producing low-carbon
steel at its Dunkirk site.

OIL AND GAS
    Until recently, capturing carbon produced by fossil fuels
and injecting it underground has largely been a means to squeeze
more oil from aging wells. There are several proposals to build
CCS hubs, but few have gone beyond the development stage.
    Now, numerous large energy companies are incorporating CCS
into their plans for reducing emissions, but the lack of carbon
trading markets or tax incentives to make the investment
worthwhile has held back U.S. development.
    Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) is currently developing with
private equity firm Rusheen Capital Management a direct air
capture facility in Texas that would pull about 1 million metric
tons of CO2 annually from the air.

MINING
    Parts of the mining industry see carbon capture and storage
as a way to reduce emissions at coal-fired power plants, the
main source of electricity in mining hub Australia. 
    Some mining companies are also studying ways to replace
natural gas in operations with hydrogen, which does not produce
carbon emissions when burned.
    Rio Tinto Ltd  RIO.L , one of the world's largest mining
companies, in October said it would invest $4 million into
privately-held Carbon Capture Inc, which is developing
technology to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and
chemically bind it - and thus permanently store it - to rocks. 
    

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Oil trio's Northern Lights in Yara CO2 emissions storage deal   
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 (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Matt Scuffham and
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((matthew.scuffham@thomsonreuters.com; +1-332 219 1494; Reuters
Messaging: matthew.scuffham.reuters.com@reuters.net))