Responding to the need for cost-effective CDR
In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, which clearly showed that we will need to act drastically in order to achieve climate neutrality.
The EU’s Green Deal also set historical climate ambitions to
- reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels), and
- achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In order to achieve these goals, it won’t be enough to significantly reduce our current and future greenhouse gas emissions, we will also need to remove excess greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas. Hard-to-abate industries are responsible for significant amounts of the overall CO2 emissions.
CO2 capture, transport and storage (CCS) can significantly cut CO2 emissions from these hard-to-abate sectors.
When applied to flue gases from burning biomass, CCS provides a way to not only cut emissions, but also remove CO2 from the atmosphere (known as “carbon dioxide removal” – CDR).
This is feasible in several industry sectors, including biomass-fuelled cement production, pulp and paper, waste-to-energy and biorefineries. These four energy-intensive sectors in Europe are the focus of the ACCSESS project.