Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage: An Update

Recent progress in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is reviewed. Considerable research effort has gone into carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, with many promising separation processes in various stages of development, but only a few have been tested at commercial scale, and considerable additional development will be required to determine competitiveness of new technologies. Processes for direct capture of CO2 from the air are also under development and are starting to be tested at pilot scale. Transportation of CO2 to storage sites by pipeline is well-established, though substantially more pipeline capacity will be required if CCUS is to be undertaken at a large scale. Considerable experience has now been built up in enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) operations, which have been under way since the 1970s. Storage in deep saline aquifers has also been achieved at scale. Recent large-scale projects that capture and store CO2 are described, as are current and potential future markets for CO2. Potential effects of changes in the US tax code Section 45Q on those markets are summarized. Future deployment of CCUS will depend more on cost reductions for CO2 separations, development of new markets for CO2, and the complexities of project finance than on technical issues associated with storage of CO2 in the subsurface.