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Media Releases

Targeting Climate Change: Growing Momentum for Carbon Capture and Storage

9th December 2019

Madrid, Spain – Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has seen growing momentum and increased ambition in 2019. This vital suite of climate change technologies is expected to play a fundamental part in achieving the transition to a net-zero economy and help decarbonize energy-intensive industries globally.

A major report launched by the Global CCS Institute, a think tank, at the UN climate change conference COP25 finds that the deployment of CCS has continued to gather pace, with the pipeline of CCS projects continuing to grow the second year in a row, up 37 per cent since 2017.

Global CCS Institute CEO Brad Page emphasized at the launch of the Global Status of CCS 2019 Report: Targeting Climate Change: “This has been one of the worst years on record for climate. The clock is ticking, the world must act. Global emissions continue to rise, and climate impacts are expected to increase and have very dangerous implications. Bold climate action is needed to keep global warming to 1.5°C. CCS needs to be part of the climate solutions toolbox to tackle this challenge head on”.

There are now 51 large-scale CCS facilities in operation or under development globally in a variety of industries and sectors. These include 19 facilities in operation, four under construction, and 28 in various stages of development. Of all the facilities in operation, 17 are in the industrial sector, and two are power projects.

The United States is currently leading the way in CCS development and deployment with 24 large-scale facilities, followed by 12 facilities both in Europe and the Asia Pacific region, and three in the Middle East.

“Despite this increased momentum and progress in CCS deployment, the number of facilities needs to increase 100-fold by 2040, and scaling efforts are just not happening fast enough”, warns Mr. Page. “Now is the time to rally for greater policy support and for capital to be allocated to build on the positive CCS progress of the past two years”, Mr. Page adds.

Speaking at the report launch at COP25 in Madrid, Dr Julio Friedmann, Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said: “The urgency of climate change and the harsh arithmetic of emissions demand CCUS deployment without delay. Policies that provide clean and durable alignment with markets and support continued innovation, especially expansion into new applications like heavy industry, hydrogen, and CO2 removal, will make or break our future.”

The report shines light on the next wave of CCS projects globally, while also highlighting  the flexibility, applicability and increasingly positive economics of applying CCS to a range of emission sources. The next wave of projects is expected to focus on large-scale abatement, through development of hubs and clusters.  These capture CO2 from multiple industrial installations and use shared infrastructure for the subsequent CO2 transportation and storage to drive down costs.

Commenting on the report, Grantham Institute Chair, Lord Nicholas Stern, said: “We need to change the way we think about climate change as a global challenge, and start to regard it as an opportunity for innovation and growth. Against this backdrop, CCS becomes an ever more vital part of the process for reaching net-zero emissions”.

At the same time, hydrogen is also receiving policy attention not seen for decades around the globe. CCS, as a means to produce clean hydrogen on a large-scale, has gained momentum as part of this renewed interest in hydrogen as a clean energy vector of the future.

“Perhaps the most compelling development in the last 12 months though is that increasingly, CCS is a stand- out technology to genuinely deliver a just transition for many fossil fuel-based communities,” said Mr. Page.

The report features commentary and contributions from a wide range of leaders and influencers who draw on their expertise from across climate change, energy, academia, polar exploration, finance and CCS in voicing their support for the technology.

The report can be downloaded here.


Quotes from the Global Status of CCS: 2019 – Targeting Climate Change:

Brad Page, CEO, Global CCS Institute: “Few clean energy technologies are on track to be deployed at the scale required to meet the Paris climate targets. CCS is resurgent but still lagging while emissions have again risen in the past year. Now is the time to rally for greater policy support and for capital to be allocated to build on the positive CCS progress of the past two years.”

Lord Nicholas Stern, Chairman, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment: “The diversity of its applications is immense; from direct air capture delivering negative emissions, to the ability to prevent infrastructure emissions lock-ins by abating existing infrastructure in the industrial and power sectors, capturing, using and storing carbon will be a vital instrument in reaching net-zero emissions goals.”

Jade Hameister, Australian Polar Explorer and Climate Activist: “My polar expeditions confirmed for me that global warming is an undeniable truth. That is why I call on the political and business leaders to stop arguing and start taking massive action. It’s not about choosing the best technology – it’s about supporting ALL viable technologies and ideas, including carbon capture and storage – that together create a web that seeks to hold global temperature rise to under two degrees Celsius (if that is even still possible).”

Sally Benson, Co-Director, Precourt Institute for Energy; Director, Global Climate & Energy Project; Professor, Energy Resources Engineering Department; Senior Fellow, Precourt Institute for Energy:As I write this, one hundred kilometers north, 77,000 acres are burning, casting a haze of smoke across the state (…).  Over the last 20 years, the role of carbon capture and storage has evolved from “nice to have,” to “necessary,” and now, CCUS is inevitable. We need Gigaton scale CCUS now.”

Zoë Knight, Managing Director & Group Head, HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance: “While the flow of funding towards new low-carbon technologies is increasing, it is not happening at the pace that is needed. As with renewables when they were in early stages of deployment, targeted public sector signals of support for the industry would help accelerate the market for CCS.”

Deepika Nagabhushan, Program Director, Decarbonized Fossil Energy, Clean Air Task Force: “CCUS will not only play an important role in fulfilling above commitments, but also help meeting even bolder goals that will include decarbonizing industrial emissions and leveraging zero-carbon fuels. This creates implications on federal and state governments to enact additional CCUS enabling policies.”

Iida Yuji, Director General, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan: “As a technology that is capable of reducing substantial CO2 emissions, it is important not only for Japan but also for the entire world to put CCS into practical use and realize its commercialisation.”

Newton B Jones, International President, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers: “CCUS is the global answer to climate change. It is the only solution that can truly mitigate climate change and provide reliable energy production through a realistic mix of renewables and natural resources—all while preserving and creating jobs, economic growth and social stability.”


Note to journalists:

Annya Schneider (can be contacted on-site at COP25): +32 493 47 12 22  annya.schneider@globalccsinstitute.com

Lee Beck (Washington DC): +1 202-677-9053 lee.beck@globalccsinstitute.com

Lucy Temple-Smith (Melbourne): +61 466 982 068  lucy.temple-smith@globalccsinstitute.com

About the Global CCS Institute: The Global CCS Institute is an international think tank whose mission is to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a vital technology to tackle climate change. Working with and on behalf of our Members, we drive the adoption of CCS as quickly and cost effectively as possible; sharing expertise, building capacity and providing advice and support so CCS can play its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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