Top 5 questions about CCS
Curious about carbon capture and storage technology? On this page you will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we get about CCS.
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1. In CCS unproven or is there independently certified data to prove that CCS has a role in reducing emissions?
CCS technology isn’t new. In fact, it draws on technology that the oil and gas industry has been using for over fifty years now and there have actually been CCS projects in place for around 20 years. Today, there are multiple operational CCS projects around the globe that demonstrate the efficacy of the technology, projects that together can capture and store around 40 million tonnes per annum of CO2.
Most climate scientists are clear that using CCS technology to store carbon plays an important role in the transition of the energy system. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5°C scenarios show that even when the energy system reaches net-zero emissions, there will be residual emissions because some sectors and end users will not be able to eliminate the use of hydrocarbons.
Additionally, a 2015 report by the International Energy Agency says that CCS is the only technology able to deliver significant emissions reductions from the use of hydrocarbons. The agency's modelling suggests 6 billion tonnes a year of carbon would need to be stored by 2050 to stay in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
In 2019, the UK’s Climate Change Committee said that CCS is a “necessity, not an option” to meet the UK's 2050 ambition, a sentiment that Shell agrees with. And, in 2020, the Energy Systems Catapult published a UK Net Zero Report that outlines that “under Net Zero, CCS is also vital for mitigating industrial emissions”.
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2. How many CCS projects is Shell part of and how much money is Shell investing into CCS?
Today, Shell is involved in seven of the 51 large-scale CCS projects globally, as listed in 2019 by the Global CCS Institute. These seven projects store around 5 million tonnes of CO2 per annum, or around 12.5% of global CCS capacity. By the end of 2020, for example, our Quest CCS project in Canada had captured and safely stored more than 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 since it began operating in 2015. In Norway, Shell, our project partners and the Norwegian government have taken the final investment decision on the Northern Lights CCS project. This transformative project aims to become the first carbon storage facility with capacity to transport and store CO2 from industrial facilities in Norway and potentially from across Europe.
In 2020, Shell invested around $70 million in CCS. This included progressing opportunities and operating costs for CCS assets in which Shell has an interest. We seek to have access to 25 million tonnes of CO2 per annum of CCS capacity by 2035 – equal to 25 CCS facilities the size of our Quest project, or around 20% of the capacity of all CCS projects being studied around the world today.
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3. Why doesn’t Shell just invest in more renewables?
Shell has a target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner, in step with society. Becoming a net-zero emissions energy business is a huge task. The business plans we have today will not get us there. So, our plans must change over time.
That is one of the many reasons why we are actively growing our portfolio of low-carbon energy solutions and continue to invest in a wide range of renewables energies such as wind and solar, new mobility options such as electric vehicle charging and hydrogen, and an interconnected power business that will provide electricity to millions of homes, companies and businesses. Find out more about our renewables and energy solutions business.
But there is no one answer to achieving net-zero emissions. Most climate scientists are clear that using technology to store carbon plays an important role in the transition of the energy system. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5°C scenarios show that even when the energy system reaches net-zero emissions, there will be residual emissions because some sectors and end users will not be able to eliminate the use of hydrocarbons. Some of these residual emissions will need to be stored. This is where CCS has a part to play.
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4. Is CCS a way for Shell to justify exploring for more oil and gas?
No. At Shell, our priority is to avoid emissions, and, where that is not currently possible, to reduce emissions. If it is not possible to either avoid or reduce emissions, only then will we turn to the mitigation of emissions, for example through the use of carbon capture and storage technology or nature-based solutions.
As the recent government report from the Climate Change Committee shows, the UK will still need oil and gas to fuel a variety of areas including heavy duty road transport, ships, aircraft, to produce cement and steel – areas for which there where there are not currently scalable low carbon alternatives. This is where CCS currently has a role to play in the generation of lower carbon products not only for the energy industry but also for hard to abate sectors such as chemicals, steel and cement.
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5. The scale and cost of CCS needed is enormous. Is it realistic?
While CCS can significantly reduce CO2 emissions from power plants and other major industrial processes such as refining, petrochemicals and steelmaking, cost and technological hurdles have historically hindered the pace of development. However, this will likely change as we move towards CCS industrial hubs which provide economies of scale and as more projects are completed and we gain knowledge that helps improve efficiencies. For example, the cost to operate Quest is about 35% lower than what was forecast in 2015, and if Quest were to be built today, it would cost about 30% less thanks to potential front-end engineering savings and capital efficiency improvements.
Accelerating the pace of CCS deployment requires continued collaboration between governments, industry and investors, among others, to help unlock financing capacity, accelerate technology development, generate a market for lower carbon products and encourage public support. We recognise the scale of the challenge in developing CCS globally as quickly and as widely as needed, but we also agree with the UK’s Climate Change Committee that CCS is a “necessity, not an option” and so this is a challenge that we are working hard to address.
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Our response to climate change
Shell has set a target to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society.
Nature-based solutions
The world needs a range of measures to limit carbon dioxide emissions while meeting rising energy demand. They include the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands and wetlands. So how do such “nature-based solutions” work and what is Shell doing to support them?