ACCSESS - Providing access to cost-efficient, replicable, safe and flexible CCUS

One main strand was capture integration, which asks how a capture plant is best fitted to an industrial site that already exists. Instead of treating each sector on its own terms, SINTEF applied one consistent techno-economic method to pulp and paper mills, cement kilns, waste-to-energy plants and biorefineries, measured against a common reference technology. This approach made it possible to compare cost, energy use and captured volumes across very different industries on equal terms, and to show where better integration brings the cost down.

SINTEF also looked at industrial clusters, with an optimisation model for shared capture and transport infrastructure. Research scientists assessed the chain that follows capture, from emitter to storage site, covering cost, environmental performance and the legal and regulatory conditions for moving CO₂ across national borders.

For transport specifically, SINTEF used its laboratories to measure how mixtures of CO₂ and water behave at low temperature and pressure. The question behind the work was whether CO₂ can be shipped at considerably lower pressure than is standard today, which would reduce transport costs, and what is needed to do so safely.

Communication and dissemination were also SINTEF's responsibility, including the project website, newsletters, webinars, media work and scientific publication.