The UK continues to be a global leader on climate action, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% on 1990 levels by the end of this decade. And carbon capture technology has been recognised as one of the key elements of the UK’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution to get us there, launched by the Prime Minister last month.
Drax Power Station is already trialling Europe’s first bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project. Combining sustainable biomass with carbon capture technology could remove and capture millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year and put the power station at the centre of wider decarbonisation efforts across the region as part of Zero Carbon Humber, a partnership to develop a world first net zero industrial cluster in the North of England.
But who else is making carbon capture a reality?
Snøhvit & Sleipner Vest
Who: Sleipner — Equinor Energy, Var Energi, LOTOS, KUFPEC; Snøhvit — Equinor Energy, Petoro, Total, Neptune Energy, Wintershall Dean
Where: Norway
Sleipner Vest was the world’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant. Active since 1996, it separates CO2 from natural gas extracted from beneath the sea.
Snøhvit, in Norway’s northern Barents Sea, operates similarly but here natural gas is pumped to an onshore facility for carbon removal. The separated and compressed CO2 from both facilities is then stored in empty reservoirs under the sea.
As of 2019, Sleipner had captured and stored over 23 million tonnes of CO2 while Snøhvit stores 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Petra Nova
Who: NRG, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. (MHIA) and JX Nippon, a joint venture with Hilcorp Energy
Where: Texas, USA
In 2016, the largest carbon capture facility in the world began operation at the Petra Nova coal-fired power plant. However, the 240-megawatt project was interrupted in July 2020 when falling oil prices meant that Petra Nova was unable to find an economically sustainable way to deploy coal-based CCUS at scale.
As of January 2020, over 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 had been captured, reducing the plant’s carbon emissions by 90%. As well as preventing CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, CCUS also aided the site’s sustainability by eliminating the need for hydraulic drilling.
Gorgon LNG
Who: Operated by Chevron, in a joint venture with Shell, Exxon Mobil, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, Jera
Where: Barrow Island, Australia
In 2019 CCS operations began at one of Australia’s largest liquified natural gas production facilities. CO2 is removed from natural gas before the gas is cooled to -162oC and liquified.
The liquid is then injected via wells into a saline aquifer 2km underneath Barrow Island.
The project aims to reduce the facility’s emissions by about 40% and plans to store between 3.4 and 4 million tonnes of CO2 each year.
Quest
Who: Operated by Shell, owned by Chevron and Canadian Natural Resources
Where: Alberta, Canada
The Scotford Upgrader facility uses hydrogen to upgrade bitumen (a substance similar to asphalt) to make synthetic crude oil.
In 2015, the Quest carbon capture facility was added to Scotford Upgrader to capture the CO2 created as a result of making the site’s hydrogen. Once captured, the CO2 is pressurised and liquified, then stored in a saline aquifer.
It is estimated that, over its 25-year life span, this technology could capture and store over 27 million tonnes of CO2.
Boundary Dam
Who: SaskPower
Where: Saskatchewan, Canada
Boundary Dam, a coal-fired power station, became the world’s first post-combustion CCS facility in 2014.
It uses Shell’s Cansolv solvent to remove CO2 from the exhaust of one of the power station’s generating units. Some of this is used for enhanced oil recovery, while any unused CO2 is stored in a brine and sandstone reservoir, deep underground.
By December 2019, more than three million tonnes of CO2 had been captured at Boundary Dam.
Discover more about how carbon removal can transform industries and help prevent climate change here.
