Life Cycle Assessment of CCUS Scenarios in Three Promising European Region

Abstract

Putting the transition to net-zero emissions on track includes the effective implementation of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies. Such technologies allow to remove, or avoid, CO2 emissions in carbonintensive key sectors, where reaching carbon neutrality is economically and technically unachievable. As stated by IEA, after years of slow progress, CCUS is gaining new momentum, but its deployment must continue.

In that regard, the European project Strategy CCUS aims at supporting the development of CCUS in Europe. Eight regions have been identified based on a screening of existing industry clusters, potential storage sites and opportunities for CO2 utilisation. As the scenarios are meant to decarbonize the economy by cutting direct CO2 emissions, the net drop in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the regional implementation of CCUS needs to be assessed.

This paper presents the outcomes of Life Cycle Assessments of the CCUS scenarios elaborated in the three most promising regions – namely the Rhône Valley (France), the Ebro Basin (Spain) and the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal).

For each region, the set of relevant industrial emitters on which capture is planned is considered. Impacts of the scenarios are compared to a baseline situation where no CCUS would be implemented on the emitters. The related functional unit for each assessment is the capture, transport, use and/or storage of a given amount of CO2 from concerned emitters during a given year. The climate change impact through GHG emissions is assessed along with the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED), given the potential energy-related concerns of CCUS. The base assumptions made in each regional scenario play a crucial role in terms of climate benefits. Capture rate and energy for capture combined to the intensity of annual CO2 emissions of the emitters are found to be key parameters of the CCUS implementation efficiency. Therefore, process integration in the value chain would be decisive to optimize net GHG emissions related to CCUS. Moreover, results show that the use of renewables, for both capture and utilization energy requirements, is to be foreseen as soon as possible to efficiently decrease the CED compared to the current situations.

Keywords: Decarbonisation; Life Cycle Assesment; Carbon Capture and Storage; Climate Change