Energy (all); General Energy; CO2 capture and re-use; CCU
Abstract :
[en] The recently published third working group of the sixth assessment report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change mentions for the first time Carbon
Capture and Utilisation (CCU) as a solution to decrease net CO2 emissions, as well as
a potential technology to move away from fossil carbon by using CO2 as an alternative
feedstock for the production of renewable chemicals and fuels. This paper clarifies
some of the myths related to CO2 utilisation and highlights some important facts
around CCU technologies with a focus on hydrocarbon e-fuels which refers to
synthesizing fuels from renewable energy, water and CO2. The argument sometimes
heard that CCU would be just a delay of CO2 emissions is wrongly but still frequently
used by critics of the technology. CCU, even when using CO2 from fossil point
sources, may make sense and can reduce up to 50% of the CO2 emissions if
renewable energy is used. However, lock-in effects in which fossil assets are continued
to operate to provide CO2 should be avoided. The utilisation of CO2 from biomass, air
or water can allow to reach a carbon circular economy and support the efforts towards
carbon neutrality. Air sourced CO2 for CCU makes the design possible of an autothermally
operated process for the production of molecules based on CO2 and water
from the ambient air. Full Life Cycle Assessments, going beyond just carbon
footprinting as well as social perception and acceptance evaluations should be
standard practice for all new CCU projects.
Disciplines :
Engineering, computing & technology: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Mertens, Jan ; ENGIE Research, Paris, France ; Department of Electromechanical, System and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
Breyer, Christian; LUT University, Lappeenranta, Finland
Arning, Katrin; RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Bardow, André; ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Belmans, Ronnie; Electrical Energy and Computer Architectures, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium ; EnergyVille, Genk, Belgium
Dibenedetto, Angela; Department of Chemistry and CIRCC, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
Erkman, Suren; Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Studies, University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Léonard, Grégoire ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Department of Chemical Engineering > PEPs - Products, Environment, and Processes
Nizou, Sylvain; CEA/French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission Centre de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
Pant, Deepak; Separation & Conversion Technology, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium
Reis-Machado, Ana S.; LAQV, REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, NOVA School of Science and Technology – FCT-NOVA, Caparica, Portugal
Styring, Peter; UK Centre for Carbon Dioxide Utilisation, Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Vente, Jaap; Energy Transition, TNO, Petten, Netherlands
Webber, Michael; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
Sapart, Célia Julia ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophysique, géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Chemical Oceanography Unit (COU) ; CO2 Value Europe, Brussels, Belgium
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