Carbon capture technologies

To meet the 'Net Zero' emissions ambition it must be recognised that no single technology - either currently in existence or in development - is a 'silver bullet' for industrial decarbonisation. Multiple technologies will need to be deployed to reduce dependency on any single potential model to remove carbon from the refining process. However, as noted by the CCC, there is an urgency to deploy carbon capture storage (CCS) technologies at scale in all regions by the 2030s if progess towards 'Net Zero' is to be achieved.

Carbon capture and utilisation offers an opportunity to create a carbon-based economy, where downstream oil and gas companies can be pioneers in the commercialisation of a new market of petrochemical and energy-related products.

Carbon capture offers a number of methods where carbon emissions from refinery processes or even from the atmosphere can be captured and used in different processes or stored permanently.

International examples of CCS have demonstrated the viability of the technology, from feasibility studies in Norway to the CarbonNet project in Australia. In the United States, tax incentives under the 45Q legislation have created opportunities for a number of lower cost industrial CCUS facilities.

Carbon capture can be a means to create 'green hydrogen' (created using renewable electricity) or 'blue hydrogen' (created using natural gas). The technology can be considered a natural fit for the oil and gas sector given the familiarity with many of the chemicals involved, as well as their treatment and transport.