It is recognised that some residual emissions (i.e. emissions from sectors including agriculture and aviation that are not possible to completely remove) will remain in the atmosphere, unless CDR/GGR technologies like BECCS, DACCS and WECCS are deployed.
The IPCC and CCC LINK recognise the role of CCUS in limiting global warming to 1.5°C and achieving removal of historical and ongoing emissions, eventually reducing to 1990s levels.
Blue hydrogen is formed from natural gas where the CO₂ emissions resulting from breaking apart hydrocarbons are captured and stored. Green hydrogen uses renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in a process known as electrolysis.
Hydrogen is a critical feedstock in chemical manufacturing. By integrating low carbon hydrogen (with CCUS) into the production of chemicals and materials, we are enabling industries to reduce their reliance on oil and gas-derived feedstocks.
Hydrogen is also an important fuel to help decarbonise vital sectors such as power, industry and transport. Much like natural gas, hydrogen can be used as a fuel and combusted to generate energy; however, unlike natural gas, it does not release CO2 in this process. Hydrogen is therefore important to replace fossil fuels in sectors that are hard to electrify, such as steel, cement, dispatchable power, and heavy transport.
Combustion of hydrogen to create energy produces water as a by-product. It does not produce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. It can also be used as a feedstock to reduce the carbon footprint of processes and end products such as chemicals and materials.
CO₂ is stored safely deep underground, mainly offshore, but also onshore where appropriate. It is permanently stored between 1 – 3km down below the seabed or Earth’s surface.
CO₂ storage sites are carefully chosen to ensure the highest confidence in permanent storage and there is rigorous site characterisation, and ongoing monitoring and verification procedures in place to check the behaviour of the CO₂ and it ensure the stays safely stored. These assessments and procedures are required by CCUS regulations before a project is allowed to proceed.
Many of the potential storage site opportunities are large saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas fields which are well understood and have already stored gas and CO₂ naturally for millions of years.
Yes, in fact carbon dioxide is already regularly transported worldwide. The main options for transportation are by pipeline, ship, truck or rail. Transport by pipeline is currently the cheapest option and has been in practise for many years both on and offshore. For example in the United States, there are already over 8,000 km of CO2 pipeline actively transporting CO₂ today.
CO₂ transport systems are monitored electronically and manually with rigorous monitoring standards, so that if there was a drop in CO₂ pressure the transport mechanism would be safely shut down.
In the UK context, the UK has a wealth of experience, based on designing, constructing and operating 6800km of high-pressure gas pipelines, for which it has earned a global reputation for safety. The Code of Practice for pipelines to transport CO₂ streams are recognised as being the most cautious in the world, and the design and operation receives detailed scrutiny from the Health and Safety Executive.