Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a key technology to help reach climate goals. It separates CO2 from emissions and stores them permanently underground.
CCS can decarbonize energy-intensive industries like power generation and manufacturing. It can also be used to produce graphene, an important technological material for screens on mobile devices and more.
How CCS Works
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technology that could help address greenhouse gas build-up in the atmosphere. The process works by removing CO2 emissions from coal or natural gas before they enter the atmosphere.
The CO2 is then compressed and cooled into a liquid form, making it easier to transport in pipelines or ships. Once it arrives at its destination, the fluid is injected into geological formations that sit deep underground-typically saline aquifers, or former oil and gas reservoirs.
The CO2 is permanently stored in these underground spaces that can hold it for thousands of years. The storage site is carefully selected to ensure it will remain safe and secure for the long term. Other methods of CCS include planting trees or restoring grasslands, uplands and wetland areas to absorb and store CO2 naturally. In addition, scientists are developing two-dimensional ionic liquids that can be used to capture CO2 more efficiently. These new liquids have a unique structure that allows them to be manipulated and shaped into different shapes, which can lead to higher rates of CO2 absorption than current technology.
ExxonMobil’s CCS Hub in Houston
In February, ExxonMobil created a new business, called Low Carbon Solutions, to commercialize its low-carbon technology portfolio. Its first project will be a carbon capture and storage megaproject along the US Gulf Coast, which would collect emissions from industrial plants near natural geologic formations for underground storage. The plan could eventually cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 100 million metric tons per year. The company also is working with carbonate fuel cell developer FuelCell Energy and direct-air-capture firm Global Thermostat to reduce the cost of the technology and make it more scalable.
As the Trump administration and Congress focus on hydrogen, with proposals for decarbonized hydrogen projects and a bill to overhaul the tax code repealing fossil fuel deductions, large-scale CCS is a crucial technology to support a lower-emission future.
Why CCS is Important for a Lower-Emission Future
CCS can play an important role in global decarbonisation efforts to meet climate targets. Its multiple roles include: reducing emissions from “hard-to-abate” industries such as power generation; producing low-carbon electricity and hydrogen, which can be used to decarbonise various activities; and removing existing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Energy-intensive industries such as power generation and manufacturing produce significant gross emissions that are difficult to eliminate with energy efficiency or a switch to renewables alone. CCS is one of the few proven technologies that can significantly reduce carbon emissions in these industries to help them become net zero-emissions compliant.
CCUS is also an essential technology for developing clean, reliable, affordable energy to meet growing demand. It can be combined with renewables, nuclear and hydrocarbons to provide a diverse energy supply that is safe, sustainable and resilient. CCS can also be used to store captured carbon in well-understood geologic formations, which have been safely storing carbon for millions of years.
ExxonMobil’s CCS Technology Portfolio
Large-scale CSS projects require breakbulk support to carry and position pipelines, storage tanks, giant compressors, processing equipment, ship-handling facilities and other oversized components. ExxonMobil is currently working on a CCS project with Nucor Cooperation in Convent, Louisiana, to capture CO2 from the production of direct reduced iron, which is a key raw material used to make steel for cars, appliances and heavy machinery. Learn more about the project and the CCS technology portfolio at Breakbulk Americas 2023, 26-28 September at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.