Carbon removal is vital to achieve Paris Agreement target

In a new research from Wood Mackenzie, the consultancy firm said that the key for effective large-scale carbon removal is unlocking potential economies of scale through basin-wide carbon capture and storage (CCS). 

The consultancy firm said in the report that they believe that CCS clusters can play a vital role in harnessing economies of scale.

“To keep global warming to within Paris Agreement limits, zero-carbon solutions ‒ renewables ‒ alone are not enough. We must think in terms of carbon avoidance and carbon removal, which means accelerating the upscaling of carbon capture utilisation and storage, starting now," said Amy Bowe, head of carbon research at Wood Mackenzie. 

“Based on our assessments of the current emissions volume from the cluster and the storage capacity in the depleted Saffron and Rosetta fields, we estimate there to be 39 years’ worth of storage potential ‒ at the upper end of the 35-40 year range required for CCS,” explained Bowe.

CCS clusters and hubs could link multiple industrial emission point sources with common storage locations “through shared transport infrastructure,” said the company. That is because, according to them shared costs can assist in “de-risk” projects. Moreover shared costs can make CCS feasible for smaller point sources.

“If we are to have an impact on emissions, there needs to be a far more urgent and broader discussion of the viability of basin-wide CCS. Success will require economies of scale to triumph over economies of scope,” said Neeraj Nandurdikar, global head of power and renewables consulting.

Certain factors are important to making large-scale CCS cluster-to-sink projects work ‒ emission volumes, emission types, proximity to suitable subsurface reservoirs and existing transport infrastructure.

Nonetheless, government regulations and tax policies are important to encourage companies to use technically advantageous sites.

“The current array of CCS projects suggests that industry appears to favour scope, however, prompting companies to focus solely on, say, capture or transport,” added Nandurdikar.

In 2019, the world emitted around 33 gigatonnes of CO2.