Carbon Management

Fast Facts About
Carbon Management

Carbon management includes natural and technological solutions that remove ambient carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air or capture CO₂ emissions from industrial processes and power plants, and then use the CO₂ to make products or sequester it so that it doesn't contribute to climate change. In some processes, we capture and sequester solid carbon or biomass rather than CO₂, which is a gaseous form of carbon.

Carbon management can help address difficult to decarbonize economic sectors and remove legacy carbon dioxide (CO₂) already in the atmosphere. Both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict carbon management strategies will play an essential role in meeting net-zero goals and limiting global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR): CDR refers to methods that remove CO₂ already in the atmosphere. Oceans, forests, soils, and wetlands naturally remove CO₂ from the air through physical and biological processes like photosynthesis. CDR enhances these natural processes to remove more CO₂ or uses technology to separate out and remove CO₂ from ambient air.

Carbon capture: Technology is used to capture CO₂ before it’s emitted into the atmosphere from fossil fuel or biomass power plants or industrial facilities like cement and steel plants.

Removed or captured CO₂ must be transported and then either permanently stored to prevent its release into the atmosphere or utilized to make products.

Storage: In geologic storage, CO₂ is injected into deep underground geological formations for permanent/durable storage. Other forms of storage or sequestration include deep ocean biomass sinking, enhanced mineralization, reforestation, and soil-based sequestration. CCS refers to carbon capture paired with storage.

Utilization: CO₂ is converted into useful products that either store or re-release the carbon. CCU refers to carbon capture paired with utilization.

CDR and CCS are energy-intensive and expensive forms of reducing CO₂. CDR is in the early stages of development, with very few commercial operations. CCS has been ongoing since the 1970s. Massive growth in both CDR and CCS will be necessary to reach climate goals. By 2050, the annual amount of carbon removed and sequestered with carbon management activities needs to be at 7.75 billion tons. That’s more than 150 times the ~50 million tons of annual carbon removal being achieved today. Carbon regulations or a price on carbon can help drive growth in carbon management solutions.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)

CDR encompasses a wide array of nature-based and technological project types for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

More Detail on a Few Examples of CDR Approaches

Global Status of CDR

*_{Companies directly involved in the development and deployment of CDR technologies.} 

Carbon Capture

Carbon capture uses technology to capture CO₂ before it is emitted to the atmosphere from fossil fuel or biomass power plants and industrial facilities.

Example Methods

Global Status of Carbon Capture

*_{Current projects generally cluster in the U.S., Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Gulf Coast (Saudi Arabia and UAE).}

Carbon Management Needed to Meet Sustainable Development and Net-Zero Goals

Red: Amount of CO₂ being captured now
Blue: Amount of CO₂ the world has promised to capture by 2050 in the IEA Stated Policies Scenario
Green: Amount of CO₂ needed to capture by 2050 in the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario
Yellow: Amount of CO₂ needed to capture by 2050 in the IEA Net-Zero Scenario

Carbon Management Can Help Reduce "Difficult to Eliminate Emissions"

Cost of Capture Increases with Lower CO₂ Concentrations

Carbon management costs are falling, and that trend is expected to continue (e.g., planned CCS projects for coal power plants will cost less than half as much per tonne as the first projects, which were built less than a decade ago). According to the IEA, for industry sectors such as cement and steel production, CCS is the least-cost decarbonization option, increasing costs by less than 10%.

Geologic Storage

We know how to durably store CO₂ underground. CO₂ can be injected into depleted oil and gas reservoirs and deep saline formations. CO₂ is typically injected at depths greater than 800 meters. Suitable storage locations have rocks with good porosity (that make up the reservoir), which are overlain by rocks with low porosity and permeability to trap the CO₂ and keep it from escaping.Many potential locations for geologic storage exist around the world. For example, we’ve been storing about 1 million metric tons of CO₂ annually underground in the North Sea since 1996. For any potential CO₂ storage project, extensive reservoir characterization is performed to confirm that the host site is well understood. Additionally, the storage site must be continuously monitored for CO₂ leakage.

Utilization

Captured CO₂ can be used to make products that are currently made with fossil fuels. Some products, like plastics and construction materials, sequester the CO₂ and can be carbon negative. Others, like liquid fuels, re-release the CO₂ back into the atmosphere when they are burned, making them carbon neutral at best.

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