According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) – or carbon capture and storage (CCS) – is a vital emission reduction technology that can be applied across the energy industry. This technology also provides the foundation for carbon removal or “negative emissions” when the CO2 comes from bio-based processes directly from the atmosphere, the IEA says.
What is CCUS?
According to the International Monetary Fund, temperatures in the Middle East will increase by almost half a degree celsius per decade unless significant action is taken globally to reduce carbon emissions and combat other contributors to climate change, such as the rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions.
CCUS technologies aim to capture the CO2 from power generation or industrial plants and transport it via ship or pipeline. This can be used as a resource later on or will stay in permanent storage deep underground in geological formations.
Currently, captured CO2 is used to generally produce synthetic fuels and building materials; however, most of it is likely to be used for sequestration (the process of capturing and storing atmospheric CO2) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to its current demand for utilisation.
EOR, also known as “tertiary recovery,” is a process for extracting oil that has not already been retrieved through the primary or secondary oil recovery techniques.
However, the IEA notes that to meet the Paris Agreement’s objectives, net zero carbon emissions must be achieved circa 2050, and deploying CCUS may be essential to these objectives. In line with these strategies, the Global CCS Institute – a Melbourne-based industry think tank – states that in 2021, there were 29 CCUS commercial and pilot projects in operation, of which 20 had come online in the last two years.
Scaling up in the Middle East
In the Middle East, state-owned oil and gas giants are increasingly looking at reducing their carbon footprint with the announcement of building solar-driven plants, hydrogen facilities, and planned CCUS programmes. As these initiatives gain international momentum, major companies Aramco, ADNOC, and QatarEnergy have teamed up with global firms to jointly explore opportunities in the research, development, and deployment of CO2 emission
reductions and CCUS.
In July 2022, ADNOC signed a strategic agreement with France’s TotalEnergies to further boost cooperation in the energy sector, including natural gas and carbon capture. The two companies would explore opportunities in gas growth, CCUS, and trading and product supply, according to a statement from ADNOC. In addition, ADNOC has previously collaborated with Italy’s Eni to explore further opportunities in CCUS, particularly concerning innovative geo-mechanical and geo-chemical workflows for CCUS programs.
The UAE was also the first country in the Middle East to establish a commercial scale CCUS facility – the Al Reyadah facility – in 2016, a joint venture between ADNOC and Masdar.
Meanwhile, in May 2022, Petroleum Development Oman inked a preliminary agreement for a study with UK-based Shell to “assess all aspects of reinjecting and storing CO2, to include technical matters, project timeframe and cost, and possible support for a regulatory and fiscal framework for CCUS in Oman.”
In a statement at the time, PDO managing director Steve Phimister said that using CCUS for EOR and long-term CO2 storage would be a step forward in PDO’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
QatarEnergy, in March 2022, outlined its plan to scale up CCUS and solar power capabilities to reduce its facilities’ carbon footprint by 2035. According to the updated strategy, CCUS technology will capture over 11 million tonnes of CO2 annually in Qatar by 2025.
Saudi Arabia, in October 2021, announced a decarbonisation roadmap that could prompt significant investments in carbon capture, hydrogen production capacity, and renewable energy. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman said the country plans to accomplish carbon neutrality by 2060, with initial investments of more than $187bn. The kingdom’s Minister of Energy HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, added to this by noting that the country will reduce its emissions via CCUS and direct air capture, among other means.
Reducing the footprint
According to IEA’s estimates, the CCUS capacity will need to grow 40-fold by 2030, a 50% capacity increase Y-o-Y, to reach net-zero global greenhouse gas emission by 2050. Although CCUS projects in the region and globally are expanding with more planned projects in the pipeline, this is a significant demand.
Industry experts opine that even though the technology required for CCUS has been around for decades, it has struggled to scale as capital costs still remain high. Additionally, more funding for research and development can aid in the deployment of solutions, leading to a more integrated grid. Furthermore, national governments and state-run oil and gas companies have the potential to bring about change and accelerate these decarbonisation technologies going forward.