The Role of Fossil Fuels in a Hydrogen Economy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hon Chung Lau
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Carbon Tax ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Final Energy Consumption

Abstract The world of energy is transitioning from one based on fossil-fuels to one based on renewable energies and hydrogen as an energy carrier. At present, only 11% of the world's final energy consumption and less than 1% of industrial hydrogen come from renewable energies. Our analysis shows that this energy transition will take several decades because of two factors. First, renewable energies give more CO2 savings in replacing fossil fuels in the power sector than producing hydrogen for heat generation in the industry sector. Therefore, significant quantities of green hydrogen will not be available until renewable energies have replaced fossil fuels in power generation. This will take at least two decades for advanced economies and twice as long for developing economies. Second, even if blue hydrogen produced by fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is available in large quantities, it is still more expensive than blue fossil fuels which is also decarbonized by CCS. Consequently, fossil fuels and CCS will continue to play a key role in this energy transition. To accelerate this energy transition, governments should introduce a significant carbon tax or carbon credit to incentivize companies to implement large-scale CCS projects. Nations whose governments adopt such policies will go through this energy transition faster and benefit from the associated job creation and economic opportunities.

The Color of Energy: The Competition to be the Energy of the Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hon Chung Lau
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Carriers ◽  
Co2 Intensity

Abstract Energies may be described as brown, blue or green. Brown energies are CO2-emitting fossil fuels. Blue energies employ carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to remove the emitted CO2 from brown energies. Green energies are zero or low CO2-emitting renewable energies. Likewise, energy carriers such as electricity and hydrogen may be described as brown, blue or green if they are produced from brown, blue or green energy, respectively. The transition from a high carbon intensity to a low carbon intensity economy will require the decarbonization of three major sectors: power, transport and industry. By analyzing the CO2 intensity and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of energy and energy carriers of different colors, we show that renewable energies are best used in replacing fossil fuels in the power sector where it has the most impact in reducing CO2 emission. This will consume the majority of new additions to renewable energies in the near to medium future. Consequently, the decarbonation of the transport and industry sectors must begin with the use of blue electricity, blue fossil fuels and blue hydrogen. To achieve this, implementation of large-scale CCS projects will be necessary, especially outside of USA and northern Europe. However, this will not happen until significant financial incentives in the form of carbon tax or carbon credit becomes available from national governments. Furthermore, private-public partnership and intergovernmental cooperation will be needed to implement these CCS projects.

scholarly journals The role of gases in the European energy transition

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-405
Author(s):  
Jonathan Stern
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Gas Market ◽  
Power To Gas ◽  
The Eu

The role of gases in the energy transition is a different, and much more immediate, issue in the EU, compared with other global regions. Net zero targets for 2050 mean that in order to retain the gas market and the extensive network infrastructure which has been developed, zero carbon gases will need to be developed, and natural gas (methane) will need to be decarbonized. Maximum availability of biomethane and hydrogen from power to gas is estimated at 100–150 billion cubic meters by 2050 (or around 25–30% of gas demand in the late 2010s. Therefore, large scale hydrogen production from reforming methane with carbon capture and storage (CCS), or pyrolysis, will be needed to maintain anything close to current demand levels. Costs of biomethane and hydrogen options are several times higher than prices of natural gas in 2019–2020. Significant financial support for decarbonization technologies — from governments and regulators — will therefore be needed in the 2020s, if they are to be available on a large scale in the 2030s and 2040s. If the EU gas community fails to advance convincing decarbonized narratives backed by investments which allow for commercialization of renewable gas and methane decarbonization technologies; and/or governments fail to create the necessary legal/fiscal and regulatory frameworks to support these technologies, then energy markets will progressively move away from gases and towards electrification.

scholarly journals Global Warming and Technologies for Carbon Capture and Storage

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1671-1686
Author(s):  
O.S. Bull ◽  
I. Bull ◽  
G.K. Amadi
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Metal Organic ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
And Storage

Global concern about climate change caused by anthropogenic activities, such as the large scale use of fossil fuels as major energy sources for domestic and industrial application, which on combustion give off carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Deforestation is also reducing one of the natural sinks for CO2. These anthropogenic activities have led to an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and have thus resulted in the warming of the earth’s surface (Global Warming), droughts, melting of ice caps, and loss of coral reefs. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other variety of emerging technologies and methods have been developed. These technologies and methods are reviewed in this article. Keywords: Global warming, carbon capture and storage, amine-based absorbents, Metal-Organic Frameworks

What comes next: responding to recommendations from the task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD)

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Tyagi
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Low Carbon Economy

The task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) published its recommendations for disclosing climate-related risks in June 2017. The TCFD report represents a framework for companies to disclose climate-related information consistently in their mainstream financial filings. Reporting financial activity using the lens of climate-related risk would, according to the TCFD, help more appropriately price risks and allocate capital in the context of climate change. The initiative, while voluntary, would help speed the transition to a low-carbon economy, and help shift the corporate perspective beyond immediate concerns. The oil and gas industry can play a leading role in the transition to a low carbon economy through: carbon capture and storage, use of natural gas as a transition fuel and the implementation of large-scale renewable energy projects. Given the oil and gas industry’s global leadership in petroleum geology, resource extraction and pipeline transmission, the industry has a vital role in testing the feasibility of large-scale carbon capture and storage. Fossil fuels and renewable energy technologies have obvious complementary synergies and fossil fuels like natural gas are necessary for the reliable, affordable and low-cost transition to a low carbon transition pathway. The oil and gas industry may be the only sector with the requisite expertise and global scale of operations to test and implement large-scale renewable technology initiatives within a public-private partnership framework. Moreover, oil and gas companies are well positioned to be leaders in the effort to adapt and strengthen resilience to the effects and risks of climate change and reduce impacts.

scholarly journals Attitudes on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a Mitigation Technology within the UNFCCC

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 629
Author(s):  
Katherine Romanak ◽  
Mathias Fridahl ◽  
Tim Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
And Storage

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology for mitigating emissions from large point-source industries. In addition to the primary role of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, CCS forms the basis for two large-scale negative emissions technologies by coupling geologic CO2 storage with bioenergy (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture (DACCS). Despite its inclusion within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), CCS has been largely unsupported by UNFCCC delegates because of its association with fossil fuels. We evaluate data from surveys given since 2015 to UNFCCC delegates at the Conference of the Parties (COPs) to ascertain how attitudes about bioenergy, BECCS, and CCS may be changing within the UNFCCC. The results show a positive change in attitudes over time for both fossil CCS and BECCS. Using a unique data analysis method, we ascertain that, in some instances, popularity of BECCS increased due to an increased acceptance of CCS despite lower opinions of bioenergy. Business and research NGOs have the most positive views of CCS, and environmental NGOs the most negative views. Delegates that attend CCS side-events have more positive attitudes towards CCS than non-attendees. Developing countries have a larger need and a greater appetite for information on BECCS than developed countries, but a need for information exists in both.

scholarly journals Assessing the Role of Carbon Capture and Storage in Mitigation Pathways of Developing Economies

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1879
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Fragkos
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Scale Transformation ◽  
Global Energy ◽  
And Storage

The Paris Agreement has set out ambitious climate goals aiming to keep global warming well-below 2 °C by 2100. This requires a large-scale transformation of the global energy system based on the uptake of several technological options to reduce drastically emissions, including expansion of renewable energy, energy efficiency improvements, and fuel switch towards low-carbon energy carriers. The current study explores the role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a mitigation option, which provides a dispatchable source for carbon-free production of electricity and can also be used to decarbonise industrial processes. In the last decade, limited technology progress and slow deployment of CCS technologies worldwide have increased the concerns about the feasibility and potential for massive scale-up of CCS required for deep decarbonisation. The current study uses the state-of-the-art PROMETHEUS global energy demand and supply system model to examine the role and impacts of CCS deployment in a global decarbonisation context. By developing contrasted decarbonisation scenarios, the analysis illustrates that CCS deployment might bring about various economic and climate benefits for developing economies, in the form of reduced emissions, lower mitigation costs, ensuring the cost efficient integration of renewables, limiting stranded fossil fuel assets, and alleviating the negative distributional impacts of cost-optimal policies for developing economies.

scholarly journals Review of Cryogenic Carbon Capture Innovations and Their Potential Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Carolina Font-Palma ◽  
David Cann ◽  
Chinonyelum Udemu
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Technological Readiness ◽  
Cryogenic Carbon Capture ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Air Capture ◽  
Reduce Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Co2 Recovery

Our ever-increasing interest in economic growth is leading the way to the decline of natural resources, the detriment of air quality, and is fostering climate change. One potential solution to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from industrial emitters is the exploitation of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Among the various CO2 separation technologies, cryogenic carbon capture (CCC) could emerge by offering high CO2 recovery rates and purity levels. This review covers the different CCC methods that are being developed, their benefits, and the current challenges deterring their commercialisation. It also offers an appraisal for selected feasible small- and large-scale CCC applications, including blue hydrogen production and direct air capture. This work considers their technological readiness for CCC deployment and acknowledges competing technologies and ends by providing some insights into future directions related to the R&D for CCC systems.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage with Low-Carbon Energy Sources

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Terlouw ◽  
Karin Treyer ◽  
christian bauer ◽  
Marco Mazzotti
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Solid Sorbent ◽  
Low Carbon Energy ◽  
And Storage ◽  
Limited Scope

Prospective energy scenarios usually rely on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. CDR technologies aim at removing CO2 from the atmosphere in a permanent way. However, the implementation of CDR technologies typically comes along with unintended environmental side-effects such as land transformation or water consumption. These need to be quantified before large-scale implementation of any CDR option by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) is considered to be among the CDR technologies closest to large-scale implementation, since first pilot and demonstration units have been installed and interactions with the environment are less complex than for biomass related CDR options. However, only very few LCA studies - with limited scope - have been conducted so far to determine the overall life-cycle environmental performance of DACCS. We provide a comprehensive LCA of different low temperature DACCS configurations - pertaining to solid sorbent-based technology - including a global and prospective analysis.

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