A massive carbon capture project on the Gulf Coast is part of global efforts to combat climate change through industrial innovation.
A massive carbon capture project is poised to remove 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually from a pulp and paper mill on the U.S. Gulf Coast. This initiative, spearheaded by CO280 Solutions in collaboration with a joint venture between SLB and Aker Carbon Capture, represents a significant leap forward in scaling up North America’s carbon dioxide removal market.
The joint venture between SLB and Aker Carbon Capture has been awarded a front-end engineering and design contract for the massive carbon capture project. This massive carbon capture project aims to deliver permanent, verifiable, and cost-effective carbon dioxide removals, tapping into the vast potential of the pulp and paper industry for carbon reduction.
The North American pulp and paper sector presents a substantial opportunity for carbon removal, with potential reductions of up to 130 million tonnes per year. By capturing and permanently storing biogenic carbon dioxide emissions from these mills, the industry can achieve negative emissions, effectively removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases during operations.
Egil A. Fagerland, Chief Executive Officer of the SLB and Aker Carbon Capture joint venture, underscored the importance of this contract, stating, “This represents a key milestone in our partnership with CO280 to deliver large-scale carbon capture solutions for the North American industry.”
The front-end engineering and design concept is based on the joint venture’s modularized Just Catch 400 technology. This innovative system employs a standardized and modular approach, allowing for the pre-fabrication of carbon capture units. The Just Catch 400 technology utilizes a proprietary amine-based solvent to absorb carbon dioxide from flue gases. As the flue gas passes through an absorption tower, the solvent selectively captures the carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide-rich solvent is then heated in a regeneration tower, releasing pure carbon dioxide for compression, storage, and sequestration.
This modular design offers several advantages, including faster installation, reduced on-site construction time, and potentially lower overall costs. The system’s flexibility also allows for easy scaling to meet the specific needs of different industrial facilities. The joint venture is already implementing both Just Catch and Big Catch solutions across various industrial sectors, including bioenergy, cement production, and waste-to-energy facilities.
Jonathan Rhone, Chief Executive Officer of CO280, emphasized the crucial role of partnerships in achieving significant carbon removal goals. “Partnerships are the key to removing megatons of carbon before 2030,” he said. “By capturing and permanently storing biogenic carbon dioxide at mills, we can unlock a vast carbon removal opportunity in the pulp and paper industry and scale up the carbon dioxide removal market.”
This massive carbon capture project builds upon recent collaborations between the SLB and Aker Carbon Capture joint venture, CO280, and technology giant Microsoft. These partnerships aim to develop large-scale carbon dioxide removal projects in the United States and Canada’s pulp and paper industries, focusing on scaling the full value chain of carbon removal by capturing and permanently sequestering biogenic carbon dioxide.
The pulp and paper industry’s potential for carbon removal stems from its use of biomass as a primary raw material. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and when paper products decompose, they release this stored carbon. By capturing and storing the carbon dioxide emissions from paper production, the industry can effectively remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases, creating a net negative carbon footprint.
While the environmental benefits of carbon capture technology are significant, it’s important to consider potential environmental concerns associated with the process. The capture and storage of carbon dioxide require energy, which could potentially offset some of the emissions reductions if not sourced from renewable energy. Additionally, the long-term storage of captured carbon dioxide raises questions about land use and potential leakage risks. However, proponents argue that these concerns are outweighed by the technology’s potential to significantly reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
The massive carbon capture project on the Gulf Coast project represents a crucial step in the broader global effort to combat climate change through innovative industrial solutions. As nations worldwide seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of global warming, carbon capture and storage technologies are emerging as vital tools in the climate action toolkit. Similar projects are being developed and implemented across the globe, from Norway’s Northern Lights project, which aims to capture and store carbon dioxide from industrial sources, to Australia’s CarbonNet Project, focusing on carbon capture and storage in the Gippsland region.
The success of this massive carbon capture project could pave the way for similar projects across the pulp and paper industry, potentially leading to significant reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Moreover, it demonstrates the viability of large-scale carbon removal projects in traditional industries, offering a model for other sectors to follow.
As the massive carbon capture project moves forward, stakeholders will be watching closely to see how effectively the technology can be implemented and scaled. The results could have far-reaching implications for climate change mitigation strategies and the future of industrial decarbonization efforts worldwide, potentially reshaping the way industries approach their carbon footprint and contributing to global efforts to limit temperature rise in line with international climate agreements.
