Reducing CO₂ emissions through capture, use and storage

In the meantime, it has been demonstrated on an industrial scale at various companies that CO₂ emissions can be reduced by capture and that the challenges lie in reducing the costs of this.

Removal and CO₂ capture

For the time being, CO₂ capture is the only alternative for many sectors to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases. After all, companies will still be dependent on fossil fuels and raw materials for their production processes for some time to come. TNO is working with industrial and scientific partners at home and abroad on methods to remove CO₂ emissions early in the process (pre-combustion) or capture it from flue gases after burning gas, coal or waste (post-combustion). Where possible, the CO₂ is then reused or stored underground.

Useful reuse CO2

In the petrochemical industry, refineries, waste processors and steel companies, a lot of profit can be made by capturing CO2. We have developed several technologies, of which Sorption Enhanced Water-Gas Shift process (SEWGS) is now embraced by the industry.

With this absorption technology, with solid sorbents, the steel industry can remove CO2 during the production process in a relatively cheap way. This means that capture at the chimney is no longer necessary. In addition, SEWGS is a revolutionary Dutch platform technology that is particularly attractive for the production of blue hydrogen from industrial residual gases and synthesis gas. The industry can also use it to produce hydrogen cheaper, more energy-efficiently and on a larger scale than is currently possible with green hydrogen.

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International projects

In national projects such as CATO (CO₂ Capture Transport Storage) since 2004 and ROAD (Rotterdam Storage and Capture Demonstration Project) a lot of research has been done with partners, and knowledge has been acquired about the possibilities and risks of CO₂ capture and storage. In a European context TNO has been working for some time in research and demonstration projects aimed at specific sectors.

Examples include STEPWISE, FReSMe and BOF2UREA forCO₂ reduction in the steel industry, CEMCAP in the cement industry and ALIGN-CCUS whose focus lies on decarbonisation in six European industrial regions. This TNO-led project involves the combination of capture, transport, use and storage. TNO's involvement in these major projects stems from our in-depth knowledge of these four areas, the links between them and the energy system as a whole.

CO₂ Capture

In the area of capture, there are two examples where TNO's expertise has borne fruit.

• In Sweden, CO₂ capture from the blast furnaces of a steel plant has been successfully demonstrated. The SEWGS pilot plant captures fourteen tonnes of CO₂ per day at lower cost than current state-of-the-art CO₂ capture technology. TNO has thereby shown that the SEWGS technology is ready for the next step. We are currently in talks with parties to commercialise the technology and we invite interested companies to contact us.
• In Duiven, TNO's expertise has contributed to a world first for AVR, namely the very large-scale capture of CO₂ from its energy-from-waste plant. With the help of a mobile installation TNO designed and built, TNO had carried out tests on site to capture CO₂ from various flue gases. Based on the results and design recommendations of TNO, AVR had a capture installation built that could capture twelve tonnes per hour. Horticulturists then use this CO₂ to grow their crops which, in turn, further CO₂ reduction because there is no need to burn natural gas.

Transport

In the port of Rotterdam there are large-scale plans for the transport of captured CO₂. The Port of Rotterdam Authority, Gasunie and EBN are working together on this in the Porthos project. Currently, the industry uses a lot of hydrogen, especially for high-temperature processes, by burning natural gas.

Porthos provides a new system of pipelines to which companies from the port can connect in order to transport their captured CO₂ to empty gas fields under the North Sea. A similar plan, Athos, is in place for the North Sea Canal area.

TNO is working closely with these consortia and investigating how the transport to empty gas fields under the North Sea can best be realised technologically and economically. The plans also dovetail nicely with the H-vision initiative to produce blue hydrogen on a large scale in the port of Rotterdam. In that case, hydrogen production still takes place with natural gas, but the CO₂ that is released is captured and stored. The infrastructure of Porthos and Athos can be used to transport this to the empty gas fields.

CO2 Reuse

The amount of CO₂ captured will only increase in the coming period. CO₂ is more than a harmful greenhouse gas because you can turn it into raw materials and fuels using special technologies. Then it’s a double-edged sword: cutting CO₂ emissions by substituting fossil substances and, instead, converting the CO₂ into useful products. CO₂ can be used as a carbon source to produce new, synthetic hydrocarbons.

TNO is developing technology to produce these synthetic fuels and raw materials as efficiently as possible. In the future, planes, trucks and ships will be able to use them and the houses we live in and the products we use will be made from synthetic building materials.

Co2 Storage

Storage of CO₂ in empty gas fields under the North Sea serves two purposes. It no longer rises up the chimney into the atmosphere but is captured and stored safely. CO₂ storage is part of the system integration in the North Sea and gives a second life to oil and gas installations. In the past TNO was active in the ROAD project where a system was designed to safely store CO₂ in an empty gas field.

Collaborations and projects

Many companies have plans for CO₂ capture but do not know enough about how to effectively achieve this technologically and economically. TNO has the knowledge, expertise and facilities to help companies achieve this cost-efficiently.

In the coming years, we will continue to work with industrial and knowledge partners on the further development of techniques for the capture, transport, use and storage of CO₂. In these areas we prepare and support large-scale demonstration projects. In our research, we explicitly consider the risks, economic feasibility and regulations, all of which aims to result in substantially lower CO₂ emissions in the coming period with effective and affordable technologies.