Drilling for black gold - Photo Credit - JP26 & Free Images - Pixabay

Welcome to the forty-first edition of my weekly blog where I take a closer look at the policies adopted by individual countries in their efforts to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Particular attention is paid to the role that Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) research and technologies are playing in the drive to meet these requirements.

Introduction
Following a CCUS field trip earlier this year, which included tours of Shell’s Quest facility and North West Refinery I returned home inspired to write about CCUS. One of the motivating factors was to highlight the good work that is being done by oil companies in a bid to reduce its CO2 emissions.

This week I take a look at how advances in carbon capture and utilization technologies are being exploited to enhance the recovery of oil by oil companies on-site and how CO2 is being stored in place of the recovered oil.

Enhanced Oil Recovery
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), this is a process where CO2 is injected into partly depleted coal seams. The CO2 helps remove fuel from small hard to reach seams and takes the place of the previously lodged fuel. This is a more efficient way of extracting oil from the ground as it reduces drilling and energy costs.

The Pembina Institute describes the EOR process as ‘CO2 injected into an existing oil well to increase pressure and reduce the viscosity of the oil, increasing the amount of oil that can be recovered’.

This is important because, in regions where oil is difficult to extract from the ground such as the Canadian oil sands, millions of litres of water are boiled to produce steam in order to soften and extract the oil tar.

The institute also highlights the opportunities of EOR being the permanent storage of CO2 and a revenue stream that can offset the cost of EOR technology. The main drawback is that EOR facilitates the extraction of additional CO2 heavy fuel out of the ground for use.

​EOR is a mature CCUS technology and the Global CCS Institute has highlighted some noteworthy EOR processing facilities on its website:

Great Plains Synfuels Plant and Weyburn-Midale
The Great Plains Synfuels Plant is situated in North Dakota, US and produces CO2 during its coal gasification process. It captures up to 3 Mtpa (metric tonnes per annum) and transports it to the Weyburn Oil facility in Saskatchewan, Canada where it is used to help extract oil via EOR processes. To date, roughly 35 million tonnes of CO2 have been used.

Terrell Natural Gas Processing Plant (formerly Val Verde Natural Gas Plants)
The Terrell gas processing plant in South Western Texas has been capturing roughly 0.5 Mtpa of CO2 for over 40 years and transporting it by pipeline to McCamey Texas. From there it is connected to the Canyon Reef Carriers (CRC) pipeline and the Pecos pipeline and used across oil fields to enhance the levels of oil recovered.

Century Plant
The Century Plant is another natural gas plant in Texas with a CO2 capture capacity of 8.4 Mtpa. The CO2 captured at this site is also transported by pipeline to the Texan oil field boost oil yields from extraction.

Summary
EOR is a mature CCUS technology which helps reduce the amount of water used and energy consumed during the extraction of oil from oil fields. In addition to its cost-saving benefits, EOR can also be a supplementary revenue stream for any heavy industry company, that applies it to their production plants.

The main limitation of EOR is that it aides the extraction of more CO2 intensive fossil fuels. However, as EOR and other CCUS technologies have proven, the CO2 generated can be captured and put to good use or permanently stored.

Next week’s blog will profile Austria and their efforts to meet their CO2 emissions reduction targets.
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If you liked this article you might enjoy reading some recent articles in the series:
Week 40 Clean 15: what can we learn from the low carbon economies.
Week 39 Norway: driving carbon storage and electric cars in Europe
Week 38 Desalination: water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink

​Pool ball - Photo Credit - heyourelax & Free Images - Pixabay

Welcome to the fortieth edition of my weekly blog where I take a closer look at the policies adopted by individual countries in their efforts to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Particular attention is paid to the role that Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) research and technologies are playing in the drive to meet these requirements.

Introduction
Week 15 of this blog featured the ‘dirty dozen’, the twelve largest emitting nations of CO2 into the Atmosphere. These twelve countries alone account for roughly 66% of all CO2 emissions.

Over the course of the last five months of this blog, I have written about fifteen countries who are currently performing well against their climate change commitments and are top-ranking countries in the latest ‘Environmental Performance Index’ (EPI) published by Yale University.

So what lessons can the ‘dirty dozen’ learn from the ‘clean fifteen’ and look to implement as part of their climate change policy? Let’s find out by reminding ourselves what behaviours make the ‘clean fifteen’ lower carbon-emitting nations.

Paris Agreement Commitments and Carbon neutrality
The ‘clean fifteen’ have made individual country climate change pledges as part of their Paris Agreement signatures. The EU as a whole has agreed to cut its emissions by 40% of 1990 level by 2030, by default the 10 EU countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Malta, France, and Croatia) have signed up to this goal.

Iceland, Norway and Switzerland’s Paris Agreement commitments at least match the EU’s with Switzerland surpassing it by committing to a 50% reduction. Singapore is broadly in line by committing to reducing their emissions by 36% of 1990 levels by 2030. New Zealand has agreed to an 11% reduction by 2030, however, the nation of Islands has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Five of the European countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Estonia, and France) have also committed to being carbon neutral over the next 30 years.

Electricity Generation
The percentage of electricity generated by renewable/ clean energy sources in the ‘clean fifteen’ countries is roughly two-thirds of total generation. This is in stark contrast to the ‘dirty dozen’ where at least 80% of all emissions in these countries originated in their energy sector.

Malta is the outlier within the ‘clean fifteen’ with just 2.4% of its domestic electricity generation stemming from renewable energy. Since 2015 Malta imports 50% of the electricity it uses from Italy via an interconnector, this has led to a dramatically favourable reduction in the country’s total emissions.

Electric Cars
Sweden plans to be fossil fuel free by 2045 and Volvo will only manufacture electric or hybrid engine cars from 2019 onwards. France will ban the use of diesel and petrol engine cars from 2040 onwards. Norway has set a target of selling only zero emission engine light vans and cars from 2025 onwards.

CCUS
All 15 countries have invested in CCUS research, either on a standalone basis and /or in collaboration with other countries. This ranges from legal research in New Zealand to notable or large-scale CCUS projects in Croatia, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Spain, France, Switzerland, Norway etc.

Summary
The ‘clean fifteen’ are lower carbon economies for a multitude of reasons, starting at the top with their commitment to the Paris Agreement and the policies they are implementing to achieve their Co2 emissions reduction targets. They are not reliant on fossil fuels as a source of energy and are increasing their proportion of renewables in their mix of electricity generation sources. The most ambitious of the fifteen have set targets to be carbon neutral by 2050, and have begun by switching to renewable energy and pledging to phase out fossil-fuel engine cars will help them achieve this.

Next week’s blog will take a look at how companies are capturing CO2 and using it to enhance oil recovery.
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If you liked this article you might enjoy reading some recent articles in the series:
Week 39 Norway: driving carbon storage and electric cars in Europe
Week 38 Desalination: water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink
Week 37 Switzerland: powering cars with carbon negative biofuel

Oslo - Photo Credit - AlexvonGutthenbach-Lindau & Free Images - Pixabay
Welcome to the thirty-ninth edition of my weekly blog where I take a closer look at the policies adopted by individual countries in their efforts to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Particular attention is paid to the role that Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) research and technologies are playing in the drive to meet these requirements.
Introduction
Having examined the role of desalination in reducing CO2 emissions last week, I’m returning to my country-by-country analysis and this week I’m focusing on Norway.
Norway ranks seventeenth highest under Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and has consistently being a top 20 ranking country in this biennial index since its inception in January 2006.
Paris Agreement Targets
As part of Norway’s Paris Agreement targets, the country has agreed to reduce its GhG emissions by at least 40% of 1990 levels by 2030. This is in line with the EU’s Paris Agreement commitments. Norway was one of the first developed economies to commit to the Paris Agreement when the country made its pledge in 2016.
Electricity Generation
According to the latest electricity generation and consumption statistics published by Statistisk sentralbyrå (Statistics Norway) 94.5% of electricity produced in Norway in October 2017 was at hydro power plants with the remainder sourced from wind power (3%) and thermal power (2.5%) respectively. The October position was very much in line with 2016 electricity production data. Net consumption of electricity data for October 2017 also revealed that over 63% of the electricity used was in areas outside of the extraction of oil and gas or power-intensive manufacturing.
As part of Norway’s Transport Plan for 2018 – 2029, the Norwegian government set a target that all new passenger cars and light vans sold in 2025 will be zero-emission vehicles. At 215.6 per 10,000 inhabitants, Norway has the highest number of electric cars per capita in the World in 2016, this represents 29% of the total electric car market.
Full Chain CCS Project
Gassnova is Norway’s state body responsible for the development of carbon capture and storage technologies. It is overseeing the implementation of a full-scale CCS project by 2022 that will store up to 1.5 Mtpa (metric tons per annum) of CO2 in an onshore site in the Smeaheia area of Norway, South of Stavanger. Upon its completion, the site will be able to accept CO2 from other European countries as well as further afield.
In 2016, Gassnova undertook feasibility studies for the capture and storage of CO2 with companies across three areas: ammonia production (Yara International), cement production (Norcem), and waste-to-energy (Fortum Oslo Varme).
In October 2017, Statoil, Shell, and Total signed a CO2 storage partnership agreement. The tree oil companies will help mature the development of carbon storage at the Smeaheia site.
Yara International
Yara International is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and is world’s largest supplier of plant nutrients. Carbon capture helps Yara International produce close to emissions-free fertiliser.
Norcem
Norcem is a subsidiary of Heidlebergcement and manufacturers cement at its facilities in Brevik and Kjøpsvik. Norcem’s goal is to produce CO2 neutral cement by 2030. Using flue gas, the company tested four different CCUS technologies as part of its efforts to achieve this goal.
Fortum Oslo Varme
Fortum Oslo Varme is jointly owned by Finnish Utility Fortum Oy and the City of Oslo. It has a waste-to-energy plant at Klemetsrud, 12km South of Oslo city centre. The flue gas produced there is similar to that of flue gases at coal-fired plants. Fortum Oslo Varme is able to capture about 90% of the CO2 produced in flue gases. About 60% of CO2 emitted originated from biological sources such as wood, meaning production from the Klemetsrud’s facility is CO2 negative.
Summary
For a country known for its oil industry, Norway is a clean tech and electric car leader. The government’s goal that all cars and lights vans be emission-free by 2025 seems like a realistic one when you consider the progress made to date.
The implementation of a full-scale CCS project by 2022 means that this innovative Nordic country can profit from the CO2 emissions of other European countries for years to come.
Next week’s blog will profile the ‘clean 15’ and their efforts to meet their CO2 emissions reduction targets.
If you liked this article you might enjoy reading some recent articles in the series:
Week 38 Desalination: water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink
Week 37 Switzerland: powering cars with carbon negative biofuel
Week 36 Croatia: using enhanced oil recovery to move towards a cleaner economy

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Seawater - Photo Credit - Pexels & Free Images - Pixabay

Welcome to the thirty-eighth edition of my weekly blog where I take a closer look at the policies adopted by individual countries in their efforts to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Particular attention is paid to the role that Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) research and technologies are playing in the drive to meet these requirements.

Introduction
This week I take a look at how advances in carbon capture and utilization technologies are being exploited to remove brine from wastewater. Brine is a high concentration of salt in water. Brine is also a by-product of industrial processes and brine wastewater can be hazardous to the environment.

Brine Wastewater and Desalination
Brine, for all intents and purposes, is more commonly known as salt. Brine wastewater is found in the food industry, using salt to treat meat. It is most commonly found in heavy industries such as oil and gas where brine water is used as a coolant. Brine water can become contaminated during the production process and must be treated before the water is released back into the environment.
Desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance such as sea water or soil. CO2 is mixed with salt water at high pressure and temperature in order to form hydrates that are removed leaving clean water behind.

Condorchem Envitech
Condorchem Envitech is an environmental engineering company founded in Barcelona, Spain with over 25 years’ experience, providing primary water, wastewater, and air emissions treatment solutions to its clients around the world.
Condorchem Envitech has developed three types of technology that assists with the desalination process:

1. Membrane Filtration – a filtration process where the filtered water and brine are separated into two flows
2. Vacuum Evaporators – most common filtration process where high concentrations of brine are evaporated out of the water
3. Crystallizers – usually a final stage where the brine waste is dried out

COSIA (Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance)
COSIA is an alliance of oil sands producers and is focused on improving the process of extracting oil and gas from the oil sands as efficiently and eco-friendly as possible. One of their aspirations is to “be world leaders in water management, producing Canadian energy with no adverse impact on water”.
COSIA has two key performance goals for ‘In Situ’ and mining operators towards reaching its water management goal:

1. In Situ – reduce freshwater use intensity by 50% by 2022
2. Mining operators – reduce the net water use intensity from the Athabasca River and its tributaries by 30% by 2022.

Approximately 90% of water used “in Situ’ and 80% of water used in oil sands mining operations is recycled.

Summary
Good water management starts with the conservation of water through the implementation of policies devised by governments and industry bodies such as COSIA. This will be crucial towards ensuring that water usage levels are sensibly managed and monitored into the future.
Where water is an important, and unavoidable ingredient in the food and energy sectors, technological innovations by companies such as Condorchem Envitech will help remove brine from the wastewater, safely dispose of any contaminated particles, and only allow filtered water back into the environment.

Next week’s blog will profile Norway and their efforts to meet their CO2 emissions reduction targets.

​If you liked this article you might enjoy reading some recent articles in the series:
Week 37 Switzerland: powering cars with carbon negative biofuel
Week 36 Croatia: using enhanced oil recovery to move towards a cleaner economy
Week 35 Urea: using carbon to boost crop yield