What is CCS/U?

Hi everyone!

I hope you are doing well.

Indri here from THINK-Research Team. Time flies. May will be coming soon.

As I wrote in my previous post, I will write about CCS/U (Carbon Capture Storage/Utilisation). If you remember, in January 2021, there was a viral post on Twitter. This post got so many likes, comments, and it was shared many times. Many international, national, and local media discussed this post on their news and updates.

Last week (on Earth Day), he offered the US $ 100 million prizes for people who can find ways to fight global warming, especially to eliminate carbon emissions from the face of the earth. This announcement was made to commemorate Earth Day. This competition program will last for four years until Earth Day 2025. He also announced that the nominal reward could increase over time, hoping that there will be many people, organisations, stakeholders, and companies who will try harder to fight this Earth problem. The program, titled XPRIZE Carbon Removal by Elon Musk, aims to find a viable solution to removing 1,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year. The participants are expected to demonstrate a method capable of sequestering carbon for at least a hundred years. Are you interested?

After this announcement, there were many events, webinars, and forums that discussed the decarbonisation topic. If you read the previous blog by su-re.co founder: https://www.su-re.co/post/su-re-co-venture-negative-emissions-technologies-and-practices-netps, you will know about the differences between negative emission technologies and practices (NETPs) within LANDMARC (Land-use based MitigAtion for Resilient Climate pathways) scope. However, if we talk about the general NETPs, there are several options to capture carbon. I presented this picture when we had an online event collaborated with Motion for Nature and Mentari.

BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture storage/and sequestration) and DAC (Direct Air Capture) are highlighted to be carbon capture technologies that are being developed. When we had a meeting with the Directorate of Bioenergy of MEMR (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources), they asked us to present and explain what CCS/U (Carbon Capture Storage/Utilisation) is. They said, in many meetings, their Director keep telling them that other countries have implemented CCS/U technologies, while in Indonesia, we are still talking about the energy transition. Also, my friend who is working on the Directorate of Various New Energy and Renewable Energy of MEMR contacted me and asked about what kind of CCS/U technology can be implemented in Indonesia.

So, what is CCS/U?

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology to mitigate global warming by reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Or if you read this blog: https://www.su-re.co/post/climate-change-the-difference-between-mitigation-and-adaptation, we can call this technology one of climate change mitigation strategies. This technology is a series of implementation processes related to one another, starting from the separation and capture of CO2 from emission sources, transport captured CO2 to storage and store to a safe place (storage). The separation and capturing of CO2 are carried out using absorption technology which the industry sector has long known. That is why there is a plan in PERTAMINA (Indonesian oil gas state-owned company) to implement CCS/U by utilising old oil tanks as storages. CO2 capture is commonly used in the hydrogen production process on both a laboratory and commercial scale. I remember when I did an experiment and practical activities in the hydrogen and fuel cell course two years ago. Storage size is one of the technological barriers to hydrogen implementation. Meanwhile, transportation is carried out by using pipes or tankers such as gas carriers in general (LPG, LNG), while storage is carried out into the rock layer below the earth's surface, which can trap gas so that it does not escape into the atmosphere, or can also be injected into the sea at a certain depth. There are some discussions in CCS implementation for the oil refinery. Once carbon is stored in the rock layer below the earth's surface, it can improve oil production.

I will continue writing about CCS/U in my next post, so stay tune!