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Making Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage a Reality: Integrating Science and Engineering into a Business Plan Framework

Abstract

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is a key mitigation technology capable of reducing CO2 emissions on an industrial scale without requiring a fundamental restructuring of energy systems. To have a meaningful impact, CCUS will need broad implementation that requires power utilities to develop comprehensive business plans integrating electricity production, CO2 capture, CO2 transport, utilization revenue, and CO2 storage issues. Developing such business plans is a significant challenge, and CCUS has thus far had a very limited impact in mitigating CO2 emissions (~40 million tonnes of CO2 mitigated in 2014 versus global emissions estimated around 40 billion metric tons). In this paper, a first-of-a-kind framework termed SimCCUS is introduced that integrates key CCUS science, engineering, and economic concerns, allowing stakeholders to assess the feasibility and business impact of distinct business plans. Specifically, the framework has the novel capability to evaluate four separate business-model strategies, ranging from full vertical integration (e.g., power utility and subsidiaries are responsible for capture, transport, utilization, and storage of CO2) to pay-at-the-gate models (utility pays a third party to handle emissions from the power plant site). SimCCUS integrates geological models of CO2 utilization and storage in stacked reservoir systems (deep saline formations underlying utilization options for enhanced oil recovery, enhanced coal-bed methane production, and enhanced gas recovery) with engineering and economic parameters to design optimal CCUS infrastructure networks that allow stakeholders to assess which, if any, CCUS business model is most feasible. Using a case study of a representative coal-fired power plant in the Illinois Basin (USA) we illustrate how the feasibility of different business models varies with market (e.g., oil price) and regulatory (e.g., CO2 emissions price) conditions, as well as desired CO2 capture and electricity-generation rates. The framework shows how, where, and when CCUS infrastructure should be constructed, including propensity for utilization options to be deployed early in the project lifecycle, followed by stacked saline formation storage that leverages existing surface infrastructure. Given the further advantage of facilitating connections between power utilities and businesses interested in CO2 utilization, it is hoped that SimCCUS could be a key tool for jumpstarting CCUS in the near future.