This Topic has been realized in collaboration with Dr
Ángel Galán Martín, Researcher at ETH Zurich
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges in the 21st century. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will have an essential role in meeting the target of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C. In place of emission reduction targets, some countries are showing a shift towards a target of net-zero carbon emissions, including the UK, New Zealand and EU countries such as The Netherlands, Sweden and France. CCS is recognised as a cost-effective approach to decarbonise heat, power and industry, and also to remove CO
2 from the atmosphere (negative emissions). The need to offset emissions from "hard-to-reach" sectors, such as aviation, transport and agriculture, will likely drive the need for negative emissions technologies (NETs), e.g., bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and direct air capture & storage (DACS).
Despite the wide consensus that CCS is a vital technology in achieving mitigation targets, current deployment rate and scale are discordant with projections. Whilst the technical elements of CCS technologies are well understood, the barriers preventing large-scale CCS deployment are likely due to a combination of economic, political and commercial challenges. Many region-specific factors influence the commercial market potential of CCS (i.e., the business case), also affecting its potential for large-scale deployment. Market potential of CCS will depend on factors such as access to geological CO
2 storage, EOR potential, land availability, biomass yield and availability of resources (e.g., water, minerals), social acceptance and policy (e.g., legally binding mitigation target, CO
2 price, or incentives). The prospects for CCS will likely improve in regions moving towards net-zero carbon emissions. We need to improve our understanding of the role of CCS and NETs in this net-zero future, additionally considering the energy-water-carbon nexus, socio-economic effects, policy mechanisms and innovations to technology that could facilitate a net-zero system.
The focus of this Research Topic will be developing CCS (including CCU and NETs) technology and strategies to facilitate a net-zero carbon future. Recognising the multidisciplinary and diverse nature of the CCS research topic, we invite researchers to submit Review or Original Research papers that discuss developments towards a net-zero carbon future. Themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Net-zero pathways, either applied to a single sector (e.g., power, industry, aviation) or multiple sectors (e.g., cross-sector synergy).
- The role of CO
2 capture technologies & NETs in net-zero carbon pathways.
- The transition from a net-zero emissions to net-negative under the IPCC 1.5 °C scenario.
- Development of novel technologies that are low or net-zero carbon emissions, e.g., hydrogen production processes, technologies to decarbonise heating or transport.
- Net-zero technologies/strategies that employ CO
2 conversion and utilisation (CCU).
- Fundamental processes, both theoretical modelling and experimental studies.
- Emerging and innovative strategies and technical developments that facilitate a net-zero carbon future (or near-zero emissions), e.g., flexible operation, cross-sector emissions offsetting using hydrogen or negative emissions, or near 100% capture rates.
- Multi-scale systems-level optimisation and analysis, including studies using process systems engineering.
- Studies may be of a technical, economic, social, political, commercial, or multi-disciplinary nature.
Understanding how to deliver a net-zero carbon future with CCUS and NETs will be of great value to engineers, scientists and decision makers working in academia, industry and government.