The task is daunting. While institutions such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Global CCS Institute tells us that there is a considerable momentum in regard to the number of CCS projects currently being matured and built, the global capture and storage capacity still needs to grow a hundredfold or more in order to reach our 2050 climate goals.
We need to reach gigaton scale within 2030, and several gigatons by 2050. We need far more projects, but also projects with higher capacities.
Today, global CCS projects in operation have a combined capacity of up to 50 million tons of CO2 per year, approximately equivalent to the emissions of Norway. By 2050 that number should be around 5.9 – 7.6 billion tons of CO2 per year, according to IEA.
geo365.no: CCS i sterk vekst – Norge er med
At the upcoming NEXT – New Energy X Subsurface conference, Sarah Gasda, Research Director at NORCE, will address the challenge of accelerating towards Gigatonne CO2 storage in mainly using saline aquifers.
CCS is a proven technology with over 200 million tons permanently sequestered across 26 different projects worldwide. The lessons learned have been crucial, but these stored volumes are just a drop in the ocean.
Can geology tolerate multiple injection sites operating side-by-side, and what are the risks that emerge at gigaton scale? Do we have the necessary data and tools? How can we ensure the viability of the storage industry on the path to gigatons?
Sarah Gasda will provide some answers to the many questions at NEXT in Bergen January 24.
