Emerging CCUS Technologies

Despite decades of cries to combat climate change from scientists and the general public alike, the global response to this looming crisis has been far too inadequate to halt its progress (1). As such, simply reducing our emissions is no longer an option, and we must look to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere (1). Technologies that are able to do this fall under the umbrella term of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), and despite the controversy that surrounded early CCUS developments, it is now clear to nearly all in academia, industry, and the government how necessary CCUS is going to be to tackle climate change (1). 

This necessity has also spawned a tidal wave of media attention and financial investment. In fact, over 2,800 articles on CCUS have been published just in the Globe and Mail (2). Additionally, in 2022 alone, over $6.4 billion was invested in CCUS projects, and this is just a drop in the bucket of what is expected to come (3). These investments come from a variety of sources, including governments, many of which offer generous tax incentives for companies who are able to implement CCUS, and corporations, which often invest in CCUS as a means of working towards Net-Zero emissions (4,5). This is done in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), where companies looking to offset their emissions can purchase credits from numerous different companies that capture CO2 in a variety of different ways (6). Some examples of these companies include the following:

1. One of the older and more publicized companies currently working on CCUS is the Carbfix project (7). Carbfix is an Icelandic company that was founded in 2007 to work with the Hellisheiði geothermal plant to capture carbon dioxide from their operations. Since then, Carbfix has grown massively, expanding to multiple projects that work in both emissions capture and direct air capture (7). While each of their projects operates slightly differently, the main step for all of their carbon capture is the dissolving of CO2 into water, and the subsequent injection of that water into reactive rock formations under the surface, where the CO2 turns into solid rock. Since starting their operations in 2014, Carbfix has captured over 92,000 tonnes of CO2 (7).

2. Another example of a large-scale carbon capture project is the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL). Developed by Enhance Energy and Wolf Midstream, the ACTL is a 240 km long pipeline running from the Alberta Industrial Heartland, North of Edmonton, to the oil fields near Lacombe (8). This pipeline is used to transport compressed CO2 that is captured from the industrial processes and inject it into the sedimentary beds near Lacombe for permanent storage. This process also leads to enhanced oil recovery, which is a boon for Alberta industry. Construction on this project finished in July of 2020 and it has an estimated capacity of 14.6 Mt (million tonnes) of CO2 each year, with a current license for 5.5 Mt of CO2 per year (8).

3. A third company currently innovating in the CCUS space is UNDO. Based in the United Kingdom, UNDO captures CO2 directly from the air through a process known as Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) (9). ERW works by amending ground-up silicate rocks to agricultural fields. Once amended, these rocks react with CO2 in the atmosphere and rainwater to capture CO2 and trap it in the soil water and in secondary carbonate minerals (9). This process also provides great benefits to the farms, as the silicate rocks can act as a natural pH amendment and fertilizer (10). Despite only being founded in 2022, UNDO is approaching its first million tonnes of CO2 captured, with goals to capture over a billion tonnes of CO2 before 2030 (9).

These are just a few of the hundreds of CCUS projects and companies that are currently operating around the world, and while none of these companies will be able to inhibit climate change alone, working together they may be able to make a sizeable dent in our global CO2 problem, while providing great financial returns for those who use them to improve their environmental performance (11).

At YellowYellow, we understand that not every company specializes in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS). However, we firmly believe that we all have a role to play in combating climate change and building a sustainable future.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@yellowyellow.ca so that we can help you with your sustainability and climate change goals.