Towards carbon neutrality: the role CCS will play in decarbonizing industry

— Intro

If renewable energies are the cornerstone of the fight against climate change, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has a key role to play in supporting the energy transition, in the short and even long term, especially when it comes to decarbonizing industry. 

Air Liquide develops cutting-edge readily available technologies for CCS which can help rapidly avoid CO₂ emissions, particularly from sectors whose emissions are by nature difficult to reduce - read our latest Spotlight on recent developments.

— The Editorial

A few weeks ago, the European Commission made clear recommendations: cut out 90% of CO₂ emissions by 2040. Eight years after the Paris Agreement was signed, we are in the thick of the fight against climate change and the challenge is now to rapidly deploy solutions and technologies that will enable us to significantly reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

CCS combines different technology bricks (capture, purification, temporary storage, transport and sequestration) that have now been tried and tested. Clearly, CCS should not be used as an excuse to avoid efforts to decarbonize industry by using more renewable energy. However, not all industrial emissions can be eliminated simply by substituting fossil fuels with low-carbon energy. The decarbonization of industry is essential for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Calling for rapid implementation of these solutions is also a means to secure its future, and by extension, our sovereignty and employment opportunities. As a Group committed to the energy transition and the fight against climate change, Air Liquide will continue to invest to progress on this journey. 

➡️ Read François Jackow’s full article on LinkedIn

 — A look at the world

The figure: +48%

"The capacity of CCS (carbon capture and storage) projects in development, in construction or operating has increased 48% in the last year" according to the Global CCS Institute.

What our experts think: 

The expansion of CCS capacity is predominantly driven by projects in North America and Europe, encouraged in part by robust support policy and comprehensive regulations. Access to sequestration sites will pave the way to more CCS projects, enabling massive CO₂ emission reductions. To accompany its growth, geological sequestration resource development is key. Without dedicated initiatives to identify and evaluate geological storage sites, there is a risk that ample capacity may not be accessible when needed.

— Key highlights

New Air Liquide unit to be connected to Porthos CCS infrastructure in Rotterdam port

Air Liquide has announced that it will build, own and operate a world-scale carbon capture unit in the industrial basin of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, leveraging its proprietary Cryocap™ technology which uses a cryogenic process to capture CO₂. The new unit will be installed at the Group’s hydrogen production plant located in the port of Rotterdam and will be connected to Porthos, one of Europe’s largest carbon capture, transportation and sequestration infrastructures aiming at significantly reducing CO₂ emissions in this large industrial basin.

➡️ Read the announcement shared by Air Liquide CEO of Europe Industries Hub, Emilie Mouren-Renouard

Lhoist and Air Liquide partner to capture CO₂ from lime production

Air Liquide has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lhoist, to decarbonize their lime production unit located in Réty, in the Hauts-de-France region, using Cryocap™ CO₂ capture technology. Thanks to this project, Lhoist will be able to reduce the CO₂ emissions of the plant by more than 600,000 tons per year from 2028 - equivalent to the annual emissions of about 55,000 households in France! The project was selected for financial support as part of the European Innovation Fund.

➡️ Find out more about this partnership

EQIOM and Air Liquide join forces in “K6” project to create the first carbon-neutral cement plant in Europe

Air Liquide and EQIOM are joining forces in a project named “K6” with the aim to transform EQIOM’s Lumbres plant into one of the first low-carbon cement plants in Europe. Through the implementation of innovative technologies, the project aims to capture around 8 million tons of CO₂ over the first ten years of operation. The implementation of this project in close proximity to the port of Dunkirk will also contribute to the development of a new CCS ecosystem in Europe. The K6 project is a key step in the development of the D’Artagnan project, which aims to create a multi-modal CO₂ temporary storage and export hub from the Dunkirk industrial basin and its broader area.

➡️ Learn all about the K6 venture

CCS or CCUS?

CO₂ can be captured before it is emitted into the atmosphere, making CCS an instrumental part of decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. How CO₂ is then managed, is where the difference lies between CCS and CCUS. 

It can be Stored underground, either in saltwater reservoirs or depleted oil and gas fields - this is CCS. Or CO₂ can be Used - recycled into other molecules, for example, like methanol (CH₃OH) to be used as an energy carrier in industry and transport, or ethylene glycol (C₂H₆O₂) to produce polyester fibers.

➡️ Read how Air Liquide and TotalEnergies innovated to convert the Grandpuits site into a biorefinery, preventing emissions amounting to 150,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.

➡️ Discover how captured CO₂ is used to make synthetic materials (C₂H₆O₂) by the start-up Fairbrics, supported by Accelair.

➡️ See how Luis Miguel Madeira, a winner of the Air Liquide Scientific Challenge, plans to capture and reuse CO₂ to create methane (CH₄) at industrial sites.

— Still want to know more about CCS?

[Quick glance]

Why does industry need carbon capture, what are some of the projects in progress, and how does the technology work? Clarify your understanding of carbon capture technology with these simple, snackable social media posts...

➡️ But what actually is CCS?

➡️ Why do we really need CCS? (Do we?)

➡️ Turning ideas into reality: Air Liquide's CCS projects

[Deep dive]

How does it actually work? How can industries transform their production processes? Can carbon capture help with the development of a circular economy? Here is some additional content to go one step further. 

(Article) Focus on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

(Video) Understand Cryocap Carbon Capture technology!