Carbon capture has become a hot topic in recent years as net zero deadlines loom and firms look to mitigate their impact on the environment.
Storing the carbon captured underground is the first thing that springs to mind for many companies, CCU Internation’s chief executive Beena Sharma explained in a conversation with Energy Voice.
This process is called carbon capture storage and is often abbreviated to CCS.
However, there is another, more lucrative, approach to carbon capture. Ms Sharma’s company offers clients the opportunity to utilise the greenhouse gasses captured and turn them into products to be sold to generate revenues.
This similar yet distinct process is called carbon capture utilisation and storage or CCUS.
© Shutterstock / 3rdtimeluckystudiWithout effective and widespread investment in CCUS technology, the world will not achieve climate targetsThe chief executive said: “The biggest challenge is really around lack of education and understanding about carbon capture.
“It’s a new space for everyone.”
Ms Sharma explained: “Carbon capture has been around for a number of years. It just hasn’t been widely adopted in the way that we’re hoping to adopt it.
“For a lot of people it is a buzzword, not many people really understand CCUS and what each of those components, the C, the C, the U and the S means.”
Understanding CCUS
The lack of understanding around the space means that Ms Sharma and her team find themselves educating “every potential customer, every potential partner and every potential investor as well.”
However, the start-up’s CEO is not shying away from raising awareness.
“I probably spend, I would say, one-third of my time at the moment on the educational piece.
“I speak at events, I speak on podcasts globally and I’m part of a newly formed organisation, for low carbon technologies, which is a global movement.
“It’s a not-for-profit and that is designed to fit very neatly into the space of educating, not just in carbon capture but any low carbon technologies.”
© Supplied by Submitted picGroups like this are important in helping potential clients for companies, such as CCU International, understand the options they have because as Sharma explained: “sometimes carbon capture isn’t suitable.”
She adds: “It all depends on the type of data that you’re getting from the emissions.
“For example, if there are really low levels of CO2 and then you may not justify a carbon capture system because of the cost of running it, the cost of you know the capital expenditure and the operating expenditure just might not justify it.”
The potential of CCUS
If carbon capture is viable for a CCU International client, the next question Ms Sharma’s team are often faced with is “What’s your cost per tonne?”, however, when it comes to a utilisation business model it is not that simple.
“Because we use technology that actually looks at creating revenue streams for business as opposed to being a cost,” she said.
Ms Sharma gave an example of a client that came to her recently: “One client came to us a few weeks ago and said we want to capture 5,000 tonnes of CO2 a day and we want to store it.
“I asked them the question, if I captured your 5,000 tonnes of CO2 tomorrow for you, what are you going to do with it?
“Of course, they didn’t have a response because the infrastructure for storage isn’t there.”
© Supplied by ShutterstockThis situation poses the question, what options are there for firms that have captured carbon dioxide if they don’t have access to storage infrastructure?
As the chief executive explained, last year the UK experienced a CO2 shortage that hit the drinks industry particularly hard.
The gas is needed for everyday products, including keeping salads fresh in their packets and ensuring that beers stay fizzy.
CCU can turn a company’s captured carbon emissions into Purified Carbon Dioxide Gas for these food and drink products but there are other options available.
CO2 can be recycled to manufacture diesel and aviation fuel or Surfactants and Aggregates. The potential of r the product is massive with CO2 being used in so many different sectors for a range of different products.
When clients hear this, they often say, “why are we putting our CO2 in the ground?”.
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