Discussions of the importance of carbon capture and storage in the fight against climate change often center on its use in energy generation, but just as important, if not more so, is the technology’s potential to decarbonize the industrial sector, according to two papers issued Tuesday by the Global CCS Institute.
“If we want to live in a world where we still produce steel and cement in order to build hospitals, schools, homes and cities … if we want to live in a world where we can fertilize enough crops to feed a growing population of more than seven billion souls … if we went to live in that world, then we need to decarbonize those industries,” Global CCS Institute CEO Brad Page said in a press release.
The first of the two papers, an introduction to industrial CCS, points out that the industrial sector is responsible for nearly one-quarter of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, and CCS is the only technology that can reduce those emissions from industries such as steel, cement, and fertilizer production. “The important role for CCS in decarbonising the industrial sector globally cannot be ignored, and must not be delayed through inaction. More needs to be done by governments and industry, to create a compelling business case for industrial CCS. The time for action is now,” the report says.
The second paper explores industrial CCS hubs and clusters, explains that many industries “cluster” together already due to proximity to raw materials, to transport options such as ports, to labor supply, or to markets. “This provides the opportunity for CO2 emitters located in relatively close proximity to each other to join together to form a ‘capture cluster’, which is connected to a large-scale CO2 storage site using strategically-sized (oversized) shared infrastructure,” the paper explains.
