Journal: SSRN Electronic Journal

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Elsevier

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2020 - 20255
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Publications 1 - 5 of 5
  • Environmental impact of pioneering carbon capture, transport and storage chains
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Burger, Johannes; Nöhl, Julian; Seiler, Jan; et al. (2022)
    SSRN Electronic Journal ~ Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16)
    The transition to net-zero emissions requires large amounts of carbon dioxide to be captured and stored permanently in geological storage. To initiate the large-scale deployment of CO2 capture, transport, and storage (CCTS) value chains, immediate deployment of infrastructure is required. The environmental impacts of a value chain relying on ready-to-use technologies instead of optimal ones with long lead times, such as pipelines, is so far unclear. We assess the environmental impacts through the life cycle assessment of an exemplary CCTS value chain from Switzerland to Norway that only uses immediately available technologies. Even though the system relies on suboptimal technologies and is not optimized for a low climate impact, it shows the capability to effectively sequester CO2 without emitting more during its life cycle than is stored. Contrary to previous studies, the ready-to-use transport modes cause a significant share (56.3 %) of the total global warming impact (GWI) of the value chain. More than 73 % of the total GWI stems from the use of fossil fuels during the operation phase of the value chain.
  • Climate Change Mitigation: The Contribution of Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Sapart, Célia Julia; Arning, Katrin; Bardow, André; et al. (2022)
    SSRN Electronic Journal ~ Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16)
    Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) is a broad term that covers processes that capture CO2 from flue and process gases or directly from the air and convert it into a variety of products such as renewable electricity-based fuels, chemicals, and materials. No precise estimate of the potential mitigation role of CCU technologies exists to date, because of uncertainties in renewable electricity cost scenarios and the low granularity of models that simulate different CCU options. However, CCU technologies have the potential to play a significant role in the mitigation of climate change as described, in the latest report of the Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1. Many of the technologies are already mature enough to be deployed and have the potential to reduce net CO2 emissions in gigatons equivalence CO2 emissions. Unlike other options, CCU technologies provide drop-in fuel solutions which can be introduced in existing markets without significant modifications to powertrain production, distribution and infrastructures. CCU technologies have potential to provide solutions to hard-to-abate sectors and to generate revenues through the producion of marketable products. Moreover, CCU can help achieve an energy sovereignty and a reduced depedency on fossil fuels-based energy. Nevertheless, the slow deployment of CCU results from the low availability of renewable energy, the lack of market incentives and the absence of a favourable regulatory framework. The present work discusses the climate mitigation potential of CCU, including opportunities and limitations of CCU technologies from CO2 mineralisation to power-to-X applications.
  • Insights from Life-Cycle Assessment of the Carbon Capture and Storage Supply Chain from the DMX™ Demonstration in Dunkirk (3D) Project
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Shu, David Yang; Bewi Komesse, Helen; Beauchet, Sandra; et al. (2022)
    SSRN Electronic Journal ~ Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16)
    The formation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in industrial processes such as cement or steel production is hard to avoid. To prevent the release to the environment, CO2 can be separated from industrial point sources to be permanently stored in geological storage. However, the required carbon capture and storage (CCS) supply chain entails substantial material and energy demands over the life cycle. To quantify the effectiveness of CCS supply chains in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, life-cycle assessment (LCA) considers the environmental impacts over the full life cycle. Furthermore, environmental impact categories beyond climate change can be analyzed to predict potential environmental hot spots in the CCS supply chain. Due to a lack of primary data, LCA studies rely on literature data, proxies, and simulations to predict the environmental impacts of CCS supply chains. However, recent full-scale CCS projects offer the opportunity to increase the accuracy and confidence in the results of LCAs using real-world data from engineering studies. In this paper, we conduct an LCA of a megaton-scale CCS supply chain designed within the Horizon 2020 project DMX™ Demonstration in Dunkirk (3D). The LCA is based on engineering studies for a CCS supply chain for a steel production plant in Northern France. We evaluate the environmental performance of the supply chain for the local energy supply at the steel plant. A life-cycle CCS efficiency of 93 % can be achieved for storing 1 Mt of CO2 annually, which corresponds to a reduction of the GHG emissions of the steel plant by 6.0 %. In addition, environmental impacts in categories other than climate change increase by less than 1.8 % in most impact categories except for ionizing radiation, where an increase of 18.4 % is observed due to the high share of nuclear power in the French electricity grid. Transportation based on ships emerges as the main contributor to several impact categories due to continued reliance on natural gas as fuel. Even in a worst-case scenario, assuming an all-fossil energy supply, a life-cycle CCS efficiency of 64 % can be achieved. Hence, the proposed CCS supply chain can effectively reduce the GHG emissions of steel production already today. Our study underlines the importance of the energy supply in climate change and other impact categories and points towards transportation as a potential future environmental hot spot. To improve the tradeoff between climate change mitigation and environmental impacts shifting to other categories, the development of CCS projects needs to ensure a low-impact energy supply for all steps of the CCS supply chain, including transportation.
  • Impact of Governmental Interventions on Epidemic Progression and Workplace Activity during the COVID-19 Outbreak
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ram, Sumit Kumar; Sornette, Didier (2020)
    SSRN Electronic Journal
    In the first quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a state of paralysis. During this period, humanity has seen by far the largest organized travel restrictions and unprecedented efforts and global coordination to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Using large-scale human mobility and fine-grained epidemic incidence data, we develop a framework to understand and quantify the effectiveness of the interventions implemented by various countries to control epidemic growth. Our analysis reveals the importance of timing and implementation of strategic policy in controlling the epidemic. Through our analysis, we also unearth significant spatial diffusion of the epidemic before and during the lock-down measures in several countries, casting doubt on the effectiveness or on the implementation quality of the proposed Governmental policies.
  • Crossing the Valley of Death: A Holistic Approach to Assess the Potential of Sorbent-Based Carbon Capture Technologies
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Wang, Jin-Yu; Charalambous, Charithea; Peh, Shing Bo; et al. (2025)
    SSRN Electronic Journal ~ Proceedings of the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-17)
    In this work, we present the latest advancements from our PrISMa (Process-Informed design of tailor-made Sorbent Materials) platform, where we seamlessly connect quantum calculations, molecular simulations, process design, techno-economic assessment (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA), to provide insights and guide the selection of optimal sorbent-based capture technologies. The performance of 1200 Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) materials for over 60 case studies are investigated, covering different CO2 sources, regions, and technologies. We demonstrate how the PrISMa platform can inform multiple stakeholders about key issues of most interest in carbon capture applications. This holistic approach serves to de-risk investments and establishes a common basis for identifying the optimal path forward in carbon capture technologies.
Publications 1 - 5 of 5