GHGT-17: Panel Discussion 2 – Raising Ambition to Accelerate Carbon Management

Juho Lipponen, CEM CCUS and MI CDR coordinator, moderated a panel comprising well-respected representatives of government and industry. From left to right, representing government were Adam Battistessa (Government of Alberta), Tyler Chapman (Natural Resources Canada), Faisal Qurooni (Saudi Arabia) and Mark Figueiredo (United States), while Claude Loréa (GCCA), Iain Macdonald (OGCI) and Stefano Tondo (ArcelorMittal) represented industry.

Juho raised the ‘gigatonne scale by 2030’ challenge as the ambition in question, one that member-countries of the Carbon Management Challenge (CMC), CEM CCUS and MI CDR have all supported as a global goal. Putting this into context, it would mean boosting the project pipeline by 100 Mtpa or adding two megatonne-projects each week from now to the end of 2030.

The government representatives were first asked to describe their current carbon management status and activities. Each speaker described a very impressive catalogue of success in their own jurisdiction, describing legal and regulatory measures in place, policies to incentivise deployment, projects both on the ground and in the pipeline, with progress planned on most every front. It was recognised, however, that this would not cut it – to achieve Gt scale by 2030 would require more. So, given this, what would the governments need to do to push the envelope.

Each government representative recognised the scale of expansion that was required. Canada had extensive storage potential with vast pore space and great seals that could be exploited. It could produce large quantities of blue hydrogen, more than it could use domestically, potentially creating a source for export. Saudi Arabia saw increasing potential for carbon utilisation, e.g., in producing synthetic fuels, for which it was already funding R&D and start-ups. The United States could, for example, build out its transport and storage infrastructure, prioritising regions where it would be required in the long term.

The industry panellists each described the role of CCS/CCUS in their respective industries and what vision they had for a ramp up of ambition. Cement and concrete production currently contributed 7% to global energy-related CO₂ emissions. GCCA had drawn up a roadmap, describing a pathway to net zero by 2050. The pathway showed 36% of its emissions being addressed by CCS. Fifty-eight CCS projects capturing 25 Mt CO₂ had been announced, with a further 26 Mt in the pipeline, located predominantly in the United States and China. OGCI had been focusing on de-risking carbon management activities with the vision that, as fossil fuels were phased out, so the circular economy would expand. With steel recyclable, so the amount of raw material used would reduce. Some coal use could be replaced by natural gas. There was no single solution, with CCS playing a role – albeit an important one.

Each industry representative was able to list many requirements needed to ramp up its CCS/CCUS deployment. Developing a business case was essential, as was creating a demand for green or low-carbon products. Appropriate policy, regulation and methodology for carbon accounting must be in place. Industries must achieve a social licence to operate, making effective public engagement and consultation essential. For much of the world, apart perhaps from Canada, storage presents an issue – both the availability of suitable storage and, where it could be available, the time needed to characterise it for safe, secure application. Collaboration between countries and industries was raised as a key element for progress.

To bring the panel session to a close, GCCSI’s CEO, Jarad Daniels, provided a final summing up. He emphasised that governments and industries were in this together – all needed to be focused on increasing the scale, raising ambition to play their part in putting the world on course with the Paris goals and to meet the CMC target. CCS was essential to meet net-zero goals, with each region needing to concentrate on moving from first-of-a-kind to n^th-of-a-kind as rapidly as possible. CEM CCUS, MI CDR, IEAGHG and the CMC were all platforms with these aspirations part of their DNA.

IEAGHG is proud to take an active role in and contribute to CMC, CEM CCUS and MI CDR forums.