Pros and cons of CCS technology

07/10/2023

Source: Energy & Management Powernews

Without CO2 storage or processing no climate neutrality until 2045 - at the request of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, this thesis was a topic in the German Bundestag.

By 2045, Germany should become climate neutral. In particular, the reduction of CO2 emissions is for this under discussion. Meanwhile, however, is also increasingly discussed about methods with which CO2 can be stored underground - about so-called CCS processes (Carbon Capture and Storage). This was also the case at a public hearing of experts in the Committee on Climate Protection and Energy at the request of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

Carbon capture and storage means that CO2 produced in industry, for example, does not escape into the atmosphere but is captured and stored in underground storage facilities. Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) goes even further: Here, captured CO2 is recycled, for example to produce artificial natural gas in combination with hydrogen. If CO2 is removed from the atmosphere in order to process it in products or to store it in the form of coal, one speaks of negative emissions.

Pro CCS

For example, Jens Schmidt, CTO of the company Tree Energy Solutions (TES) , spoke out in favor of the concept of a CO2 cycle. TES is working on the supply of green hydrogen and other climate-neutral energy sources. This involves the production of methane from hydrogen and CO2 produced in a climate-neutral manner. The CO2 produced during its combustion or re-splitting is captured and transported back to be used for liquefied gas production. Schmidt explained that despite the expansion of renewables, Germany remains dependent on energy imports. To this end, he said, the solution envisaged would allow existing infrastructure to be used.

The usefulness of such a CO2 cycle was agreed by Kay Ruge of the Deutsche Landkreistag , who also spoke on behalf of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities. For example, he said, it is unavoidable that CO2 is produced when non-recyclable residual waste is incinerated. His association sees the transport and use of this CO2 as unproblematic.

Jan-Justus Andreas, managing director of Bellona Germany , called the timely preparation of CCS and CCU technologies "incredibly important." Bellona is a non-profit environmental and climate protection organization. According to Andreas, there will still be industries that produce CO2 in 2050. When it comes to climate protection, he said, there is "no more low-hanging fruit." Therefore, he said, it is now necessary to prepare for very complex issues and to create the infrastructure for dealing with CO2 emissions that cannot be avoided.

Contra CCS

The two experts from environmental protection associations gave a very different assessment. Tobias Pforte-von Randow, coordinator of politics and society at the Deutsche Naturschutzring , criticized that CCS "puts the cart before the horse." Instead, he said, everything must be done to avoid CO2 emissions. This would include replacing materials in the production of which CO2 emissions are unavoidable with other materials. If infrastructure for CCS and CCU were built now, there would be a risk of a so-called "pull effect." That is, it would omit possible CO2 avoidance, because this infrastructure would then exist.

Kerstin Meyer, head of the economics and finance department of the environmental protection organization BUND classified the demand for CCU and especially CCS as "dangerous" because it would lead to a dead end. Trials of underground CO2 storage in Norway and Australia have caused significant and unexpected problems, Meyer explained. CO2 pipelines, on the other hand, posed a danger to local residents in the event of a leak.

Plea for negative emissions

Franziska Tanneberger, director of the Moor Centrum at the University of Greifswald , argued for greater promotion of natural CO2 sinks. She welcomed the fact that the German government has allocated 4 billion euros for a "Natural Climate Protection" action program. Tanneberger pointed out that currently 7 percent of Germany's CO2 emissions escape from drained peatlands. Rewatering peatlands is therefore first about stopping these emissions.

Dr. Oliver Geden, head of the Climate Policy Research Cluster at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik , pointed out that the international target of 1.5 percent global warming would probably be exceeded in the 2030s. CCS and CCU would not be enough to get closer to this target in the longer term. Rather, negative emissions are necessary, i.e. the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.

Volker Thome of the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP agreed. He pointed to processes already developed to manufacture or recycle building materials using CO2. The production of plastics is also possible with it. The plants for this, however, do not yet exist on an industrial scale.

Author: Davina Spohn