Achieving the challenging climate goals set in the Paris Agreement requires more than just cutting emissions. Not all industries or sectors in society will be able to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It is challenging to reduce emissions in agriculture and some industries to net zero and at the same time compensate for other greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane. So in order to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees higher than the pre-industrial level, the IPCC has said that we must also actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
This means that we must use so-called carbon-negative solutions. Some of the most promising are the combustion of biomass with capture and storage of CO2, direct capture of CO2 from the atmosphere as well as biochar production and handling.
Several decades of relevant research experience
SINTEF has world-leading research environments and strong laboratories on relevant technologies such as biomass, hydrogen and CO2 management. We also have strong research expertise and models for value chain analysis LCA and environmental analysis. Furthermore, we develop processes and components for technologies used in carbon-negative solutions.
Downstream, CO2 capture and storage is also an important part of the decarbonisation of many of the world's critical industrial sectors, including cement, metal production and waste incineration. Related to carbon-negative solutions, SINTEF is engaged in research on various upstream technologies and concepts, as well as the integration with CCS.
We have extensive laboratories, equipment and expertise for testing and development of materials, components and processes for relevant technologies.
We have a large research portfolio within climate change, energy systems and energy system analysis, as well as other solutions that cut CO2 emissions from Norwegian industry. We investigate how the various technologies can be utilized together so that we achieve a flexible, cost-effective, reliable and climate-friendly interaction.
Here are some examples of SINTEF's research relevant to carbon-negative solutions:
- Techno-economic analysis
- LCA and environmental analysis
- Barrier and policy studies
- Value chain calculations
- Technology development (eg production processes, biochar, carbon capture and storage)
- The role that carbon-negative solutions can play as an integral part of the energy system, especially by studying the interaction with other climate measures.