CCSA/Green Infrastructure Week webinar “Delivering CCUS Infrastructure for the Net Zero Transition”

Note – this webinar is for CCSA Members Only

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

A “Carbon Takeback Obligation” (CTBO) would require extractors and importers of fossil fuels to dispose, safely and permanently, of a progressively rising fraction of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated by their activities and, crucially, the products they sell. That fraction would rise to 100% by the year of Net Zero, 2050.

CTBO has advantages of simple governance, speed, and controllability: equivalent carbon prices under a CTBO are reliably capped by the cost of direct air capture and storage, by ensuring deployment keeps pace with continued fossil fuel use, reducing the risk of punitive carbon prices or more draconian measures being needed to drive out the final tranche of emissions. When combined with measures to reduce CO₂ production in the near-term, a CTBO could deliver a viable pathway to achieving net-zero emissions consistent with 1.5°C by mid-century.

CTBO was discussed at COP26, with the conversation focussing on the paper “Upstream decarbonization through a carbon takeback obligation: An affordable backstop climate policy”. The webinar provided an opportunity to learn more about the CTBO and to inform a CCSA position.

We were delighted to be joined by 4 great speakers:

• Stuart Haszeldine, SCCS Director and Professor of Carbon Capture & Storage, University of Edinburgh
• Myles Allen, Director of the Oxford Net Zero Initiative, Professor of Geosystem Science, University of Oxford
• Margriet Kuijper, Independent Consultant on a CTBO
• Paul Zakkour, Director of Carbon Counts Following the presentations & discussion, there was a Q&A with CCSA members.

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

“CCUS Developments in the EU” – Tuesday 22^nd February at 14.00 – 15.00 GMT.

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

This webinar was for CCSA Members only.

The last few months have seen increased CCUS-related activity in Europe from policymakers and industry. Moreover, critical developments are expected this year as the European Union considers a strategy for CCUS.

December alone has seen a large share of policy outcomes. The European Commission outlined its ambition to provide a robust regulatory framework for carbon dioxide removals (CDR), pushing forward the EU’s strategy for CCUS. The EU has also revised its TEN-E Regulation for the energy transition and laid out new Guidelines on State aid – the latter reinforces the eligibility of CCUS technologies as candidates for public investment.

Across the EU, many countries are now moving from development into deployment. We are witnessing a rising number of market-ready CCUS projects along the EU value chain, from low-carbon hydrogen projects to CDR. However, there are still a number of policy issues that need to be addressed – in particular the need for a robust regulatory framework for CO₂ transport.

The webinar provided an opportunity to learn more from key stakeholders in the EU, their reflections on current developments and the way forward for CCUS in Europe.

We were delighted to be joined by a number of speakers, including:

• Maria Velkova, Deputy Head of Unit, DG CLIMA, European Commission
• Winston Beck, Director of EU Government Affairs, HeidelbergCement:
• Svante Söderholm, Senior Advisor, Swedish Energy Agency

Following the presentations, Per-Olof Granström, CCSA EU Director, chaired a Q&A session with CCSA members.

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

“CCUS reflections from COP26 and international CCUS developments” – Tuesday 18^th January 14.00 – 15.00 GMT.

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

COP26 took place on the 1^st – 13^th November with a high profile for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), particularly on the necessity of industrial CCUS and negative emissions technologies to achieve global climate goals. The conference was considered a global success, with agreement on Article 6 as the main outcome. This sets out the principles to underpin a global carbon market, which remains technology neutral – sending a strong signal to all countries regarding the applicability of CCUS.

In addition, the political agreement to “phase down unabated coal” provides a clear invitation to countries to look at the opportunity to use CCUS and negative emissions technologies in their revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which will need to be updated during 2022 and resubmitted to the next leaders’ summit in 2023.

Looking at CCUS developments more widely, many countries are now moving from development into deployment stage. However, the scale-up of CCUS around the world will need to increase by several orders of magnitude over the next decade to ensure we remain within the 1.5° limit.

The webinar provided an opportunity to hear from a number of organisations that attended COP26, their reflections on CCUS at COP and wider international CCUS developments.

Speakers included:

• Ruth Herbert, Chief Executive, CCSA – Chair and introductory remarks:

Ruth joined the CCSA in October 2021, following a public sector career spanning almost two decades. She previously held the role of Director of Strategy & Development at the Low Carbon Contracts Company. Ruth attended both weeks of COP26 and will give her reflections on the CCUS discussions that took place, the impact of Article 6 and next steps for CCUS deployment.

• Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager, IEAGHG – Key messages for CCUS from COP26:

Tim Dixon is the head of IEAGHG, appointed as General Manager in June 2019. IEAGHG is an international research organisation focussed on the development and deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). Tim will consider COP26 and its implications for CCS/CCUS, pulling out a number of key messages and conclusions.

• Guloren Turan, General Manager Advocacy & Communications, GCCSI – COP26, Is the glass half-full?:

Guloren Turan is the General Manager Advocacy & Communications at the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI). The GCCSI 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 and provide energy security. Guloren will give her thoughts on COP26; its successes and challenges as well as looking forward to the actions needed to make COP 27 in 2022 a success.

Following the presentations, Ruth chaired a Q&A session.

The webinar recording can be found here, and the slides are available below.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (APPG CCUS) held a virtual meeting on Monday 22nd of November. The meeting was an opportunity to understand the crucial role that CCUS clusters will play in achieving net zero across the UK.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) will be critical to meeting the UK’s net zero targets, enabling the energy transition across a range of sectors and ensuring a green recovery. CCUS plays an essential role in the decarbonisation of vital industries, power, and hydrogen, as well as providing a key route for greenhouse gas removals. The UK has advanced proposals for CCUS clusters in all its key industrial regions, including Scotland, Teesside, Humber, South Wales and the Northwest.

The CCUS APPG was delighted to welcome all the UK’s proposed CCUS clusters and hear from them in more detail on how they can reduce carbon emissions and contribute to decarbonisation and regional growth across the UK. On the 19th October, the Government announced the first clusters that will be taken forward in track 1 of the cluster sequencing process. It is now critical that Government urgently provides clarity on the timeline for track 2 and the wider deployment of all CCUS clusters in the UK, as well as pushing forward with the development of CCUS business models, including ones for CO₂ shipping – all in order to accelerate investment decisions in the long-term rollout of CCUS. The CCUS APPG meeting provided a great opportunity for MPs and the wider public to hear from and engage with the proposed UK CCUS clusters.

Chair: Alex Cunningham MP

Speakers:

• V Net Zero Humber Cluster – Phil Kirk
• East Coast Cluster – Andy Lane
• South Wales Industrial Cluster – Chris Williams
• Scottish Cluster – Nick Cooper
• DelpHYnus – Pierre Girard
• HyNet North West – David Parkin

Recording of the session can be found here.

The presentation can be downloaded below.

On the 21st July 2021, the CCSA held a webinar on

“Developing Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage Clusters for a Net Zero UK“, in association with Net Zero Week 2021.

This webinar provided the opportunity to understand why CCUS is so important to achieving net zero as well as hearing from a number of the UK’s CCUS clusters on how these projects can contribute to regional growth in the UK’s key industrial heartlands.

The webinar featured the following speakers:

• David Parkin – Project Director, HyNet (North West CCUS cluster)
• Dr Chris Williams – Head of Industrial Decarbonisation, Industry Wales (South Wales cluster)
• Andy Lane – Managing Director, Northern Endurance Partnership and East Coast Cluster
• Phil Kirk – President & Chief Executive Officer Europe, Harbour Energy PLC (Humber Zero cluster) and Jonathan Briggs, Project Director, Humber Zero
• Alan James – Chief Technology Officer, Storegga (Scottish CCUS cluster)

The webinar recording can be viewed here.

The presentations can be downloaded below.

On the 22nd June 2021, the CCSA held a webinar on

“Exploring Greenhouse Gas Removals and their role in delivering Net Zero”.

This webinar provided the opportunity to hear from the Climate Change Committee on the Sixth Carbon Budget and the role for GHG removals, as well as the developer of a BECCS project and DAC technology provider to a UK project and a view from the aviation sector that are considering GHG removals as part of their decarbonisation pathway.

The webinar featured the following speakers:

• David Joffe, Head of Carbon Budgets at the Climate Change Committee. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is an independent, statutory body that advises the UK and devolved governments on emissions targets and reports to Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The CCC have consistently emphasised the vital role that CCUS must play in meeting the UK’s net zero target. In their report “Net Zero – The UK’s contribution to stopping global warming”, the CCC stated that “CCS is a necessity not an option for reaching net-zero GHG emissions.”
• Dr. Amy Ruddock, VP Europe at Carbon Engineering Ltd. Carbon Engineering (CE) is deploying Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology at megatonne scale. The regenerative process uses standard industrial equipment assembled on site meaning plants can be rapidly deployed and a full local supply chain is developed.  In the US the world’s largest DACS facility is due online in 2024. In the UK, CE and Storegga plan to deploy a commercial DACS facility in North East Scotland. Construction could begin in 2024.  One plant does the work of around 40 million trees but with significantly less water and land use.
• Karl Smyth, Group Head of BECCS Strategy & Engagement at Drax. Drax Group plc (Drax) is a UK-based renewable energy company. In 2019 Drax announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). To do this, Drax is piloting the groundbreaking negative emissions technology BECCS within its CCUS Incubation Area and in March kicked off the planning process to deploy two BECCS units at Drax Power Station in the 2020s. Work to build Drax’s first two BECCS units could be underway by 2024 and would deliver at least 8 Mt of negative emissions and the UK’s largest carbon capture project.
• Dr. Andy Jefferson, Programme Director Sustainable Aviation. Sustainable Aviation is a long term strategy which sets out the collective approach of UK aviation to tackling the challenge of ensuring a cleaner, quieter, smarter future for the aviation industry. Launched in 2005, it is a world first bringing together major UK airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and key business partners.  The ‘Carbon Road-Map’ sets out the key ways aviation can achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Investing in carbon removal solutions will be critical but there is a need to work with others to best achieve this.

The webinar recording can be viewed here.

The presentations can be downloaded below.

All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on CCUS, September Meeting on Support in the Comprehensive Spending Review to Scale-up CCUS in the 2020s.

Recording available here