Increasing momentum for carbon capture utilisation and storage but more effort needed to meet net zero targets.
Global consulting and engineering company Wood has completed carbon capture and transportation studies for more than half of the 300 carbon-capture facilities being planned worldwide.
According to data released in the IEA’s Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Tracking Report 2022, Wood’s experts are advising and engineering the design and digitalisation of more than 175 carbon capture projects, from the US Gulf Coast of Louisiana and the oil sands of Canada to the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.
Daniel Carter, Wood’s president of decarbonisation, commented: “The technology to capture carbon emissions is critical to energy transition and achieving net zero. Our top five clients have committed to invest over $100bn in decarbonising their assets, which presents a significant opportunity for Wood.
“Our focus is on helping clients achieve their net zero goals through investments in decarbonisation projects with attractive returns. In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act means US producers can receive $85 per ton of CO2 captured which exceeds the cost of CO2 capture. That’s why we’re seeing an increasing demand to design carbon capture and storage hubs.
“Importantly, we need to digitalise assets before we can decarbonise. Existing technologies could cut three-quarters of methane emissions from oil and gas production at no net cost to operators. It starts with focusing on the simple stuff like the ability to actively identify and manage sources of greenhouse gas emissions in real-time using digital tools and harnessing data to identify the optimum pathway for an asset to achieve its carbon reduction goals.”
The IEA’s Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Tracking Report 2022 highlights that although carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) deployment has been running behind expectations in the past, momentum has grown substantially in recent years, with around 300 projects in various stages of development across the CCUS value chain. Project developers have announced ambitions for over 200 new capture facilities to be operating by 2030, capturing over 220 Mt CO2 per year.
Despite this increase in momentum, the report claims that CCUS deployment would remain substantially below what is required to meet net zero targets. To translate momentum into action, the report calls on policy makers to roll out additional policy support, while also ensuring that appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks are in place.
Click here to view the IEA’s Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Tracking Report 2022.
