There are approximately 8,500 kilometers of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines in the United States today, primarily in place to serve the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) market. &nbsp;In 2021, researchers from Princeton University analyzed five pathways to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Expansion of carbon dioxide capture, transport, usage and storage was identified as a requirement for each pathway with one pathway forecasting a need for approximately 106,000 kilometers of carbon dioxide pipeline by 2050. The study acknowledged the challenges of permitting all infrastructure projects, but did not discuss the importance of pipeline safety with respect to permitting carbon dioxide and transport and storage projects. The construction and operation of carbon dioxide pipelines in the U.S. date to the 1980s and have been subject to manageable permitting challenges and characterized by few accidents. On Feb. 22, 2020, however, a pipeline transporting supercritical carbon dioxide ruptured near Satartia, Mississippi, resulting in the release of approximately 31,400 barrels of carbon dioxide (approximately 3,640 metric tons) requiring the evacuation of approximately 200 residents and sending 45 individuals to the hospital for treatment. Excluding the Satartia accident, over the 10-year period from 2010 to 2021, 66 accidents on pipelines transporting supercritical-phase carbon dioxide have been reported to the Pipeline Safety and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA). The average release of carbon dioxide for these 66 accidents was 920 barrels (approximately 110 metric tons) and no accident resulted in fatalities or injuries regarding hospitalization. &nbsp;The Satartia accident dwarfed the historical average by more than 30-fold, a troublesome statistic considering the of importance carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) with respect to net zero goals. The magnitude and severity of the Satartia event gained national attention and prompted PHMSA to undertake a deliberate approach to regulate carbon dioxide pipeline safety in the U.S. PHMSA investigated the Satartia carbon dioxide pipeline and reported the issues leading to the pipeline failure and the problems associated with prompt response to the incident. Based on those findings, on April 8, 2022, PHMSA issued a rule requiring new or reconstructed carbon dioxide pipelines to install remote or automatic shutoff valves in rare instances of pipeline failure. PHMSA then scheduled a meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, from May 31 through June 1, 2023, to obtain public comment on carbon dioxide pipeline safety. After analyzing both the PHMSA Failure Investigation Report for the Satartia accident and public comments, PHMSA submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for carbon dioxide pipelines to the Office of Management and Budget for review on February 1, 2024. On January 10, 2025, PHMSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for carbon dioxide pipelines. The NPRM, although withdrawn by presidential executive order, remains instructive about the future regulation of carbon dioxide pipelines in the U.S. In summary, the proposed regulations would have modified regulations found at 49 CFR 195 (Transportation of Hazardous Liquids by Pipeline) governing highly volatile liquids (HVLs, including carbon dioxide) in 18 areas, 16 of which are directly related to carbon dioxide pipelines as summarized below: 1. The definition of carbon dioxide would have been amended to (1) include not only supercritical-phase carbon dioxide but also carbon dioxide in the gas and liquid phases, and (2) lower the threshold of carbon dioxide molecules present in the product stream (in any phase) necessary for a pipeline to be considered a “carbon dioxide” pipeline subject to greater than 50% of the molecules in the product stream. 2. Operators of carbon dioxide pipelines would have needed to perform vapor dispersion analyses to determine whether a release from their pipelines “could affect” a high consequence area (HCA) and would therefore be subject to integrity management program requirements. If the pipeline operator determined that its pipeline could affect an HCA, it would have been required to install fixed vapor detection and alarm systems and consider installation of emergency flow restricting devices. 3. In excavated trenches, operators of regulated pipelines would have had to have instruments and tools capable of detecting hazardous concentrations of hazardous liquids, carbon dioxide, and any known deleterious constituents in the product stream. This proposed rule would have also required carbon dioxide pipeline operators to provide equipment, instruments, tools and materials that might be used in the event of an emergency on a carbon dioxide pipeline to local emergency response organizations and train them on their proper use. 4. Onshore carbon dioxide pipeline operators would have been required to communicate with affected entities (including, but not limited to the public) during a carbon dioxide pipeline emergency as soon as practicable during an emergency. 5. Carbon dioxide pipelines constructed, replaced, relocated or otherwise changed after the effective date of the regulation would have required enhanced design to mitigate fracture propagation through the pipe. 6. All spike hydrostatic testing requirements would have been consolidated in a single section. Additionally, new hydrostatic pressure testing requirements would have been established. 7. Carbon dioxide would have been removed from the list of acceptable test mediums for spike hydrostatic testing. 8. Enhanced conversion to service requirements for pipelines converted to carbon dioxide service would have been established. 9. Enhanced right-of-way surface condition inspection requirements would have been established to require carbon dioxide pipeline operators to look for indicators of leakage from the pipeline, geologic hazards in the area that could affect the pipeline, nearby construction activity, areas of reduced depth of cover, and any other factors that may affect safety and operation. 10. An additional depth of cover classification for agricultural areas would have been established requiring regulated pipelines to be installed so that the cover between the top of the pipe and the ground level, roadbed, river bottom or underwater natural bottom would comply with a minimum depth of 48 inches for normal excavation in agricultural areas. 11. Leak detection systems would have been required for carbon dioxide pipelines built, replaced or relocated after the effective date. Carbon dioxide pipelines existing on the effective date of any final rule would have had four years from that effective date to implement leak detection system requirements. 12. Fixed vapor detection and alarm systems would have been required at each pump station, compressor station, meter station and valve station. 13. Carbon dioxide pipeline operators would have had to consider deleterious constituents (e.g., water and hydrogen sulfide) for assessment scheduling, information analysis and risk analysis. 14. Carbon dioxide pipeline operators would have had to establish a monitoring and mitigation program for constituents within carbon dioxide product streams that can affect corrosion, including microbes, water, oxygen, methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrous oxides.&nbsp; 15. The distance-based reporting exception for safety-related conditions would have been eliminated. 16. &nbsp;Carbon dioxide pipeline operators would have been required to establish emergency planning zones extending two miles on either side of their pipelines to enable operators to adequately identify those community members requiring emergency response information. The Satartia event galvanized both pipeline and CCUS opponents who have been able to swiftly and systematically challenge carbon dioxide pipeline safety. The efforts of these groups have significantly contributed to Navigator CO2 Ventures’ decision to terminate its Heartland Greenway pipeline and to Summit Carbon Solutions’ decision to suspend carbon dioxide pipeline efforts in South Dakota. The Navigator pipeline would have collected carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota for storage underground at Mt. Simon sandstone formation in central Illinois. The Summit pipeline was designed to collect carbon dioxide from biofuel plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota for deep underground storage in North Dakota. The Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit public charity promoting pipeline safety through education and advocacy, reviewed the proposed rule favorably noting that it had incorporated many of the lessons learned from the Satartia accident. It criticized the proposed rule for not including a requirement for an odorant in carbon dioxide pipelines and for not including performance standards for leak detection equipment. Unfortunately, the advancement of this rule has been delayed. The public comment period would have drawn comments from carbon dioxide pipeline operators, carbon dioxide pipeline and CCUS opponents, and CCUS advocates and resulted in a rule intended to protect the public while allowing the advancement of carbon capture pipelines and storage reservoirs. In the absence of carbon dioxide pipeline safety regulations, pipeline and CCUS opponents control the narrative. As advocates for safe, reliable and full-scale CCUS, we must engage our elected officials to direct PHMSA to return its attention to carbon dioxide pipeline safety and build on the solid work it has already done.References available upon request. Author:&nbsp; David Elam, TRC Companies <a href="mailto:delam@trccompanies.com">delam@trccompanies.com</a> 919-967-0500

2025-05-01 - Pipeline Safety (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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The journey to full-scale carbon capture in the United States follows safe pipelines. 

Pipeline Safety

Last year was officially the hottest on record—as verified by NASA, the World Meteorological Organization, and the National Centers for Environmental Information—and our planet surpassed the 1.5-degree Celsius tipping point warned of in the Paris Climate Agreement for the first time. &nbsp;Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and has already made an imprint on 2025, with impacts ranging from the devastating wildfires in southern California and landslides in Indonesia to floods in Argentina. While reducing carbon emissions is core to combating this catastrophic trend, we need to do more. Carbon removal technologies offer a realistic pathway to permanently reverse legacy emissions and address carbon dioxide (CO2) released by sectors where reaching net zero is not yet feasible, giving us a fighting chance to reduce our global dependency on fossil fuels and other sources of carbon pollution. The voluntary carbon market (VCM) plays an essential role in this equation. It provides a marketplace where organizations can proactively purchase carbon removals to offset the CO2 generated by their operations—particularly for hard-to-abate industries. While the VCM is still relatively new, carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) are expected to grow in to more than $1 trillion market by 2050. To meet the growing needs of this market, it’s important to keep tabs on how customer preferences are evolving. Let’s take a look at three key insights (according to cdr.fyi) gleaned from 2024 market activity, as well as early indications from 2025 and what CDR buyers are looking for this year.2024 VCM Insight No. 1: Bigger and Better - But Not Broader Engineered carbon removals, like those generated from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air capture (DAC) technologies, are reliable, measurable, and permanent, and in 2024, the market was clearly on the same page. Engineered CDRs captured significantly more of the market and did so through larger-volume transactions. While the total number of VCM transactions dropped by 35%—mainly due to fewer transactions for DAC, enhanced weathering, and bio-oil—the total volume of engineered CDRs sold grew by an impressive 66% year-over-year. The average deal size ballooned by 155%, and 12 of the 20 biggest deals to date took place in 2024. We’re seeing this trend continue into 2025, with the number of transactions for the first two months down by nearly 40% compared to the same period in 2024, but total volume sold increased exponentially, by 289%. In the same period, deal size increased again, this time by 544%. Fewer deals with higher volumes continue to be a predominant theme.2024 VCM Insight No. 2: BECCS is Queen So, what CDR technology was responsible for driving the most market growth last year? As it turns out, BECCS was the go-to solution for large-volume carbon removal purchasers and the largest driver of market growth overall. In 2024, BECCS volume rose 84% from the previous year, with transactions up 156%. In fact, three of the five biggest customer deals last year were predicated on BECCS-based carbon removals, including: • Stockholm Exergi’s deal with Microsoft for 3.3 metric tons (mt) of CDRs • Orsted’s deal with Microsoft for 1 mt of CDRs • Orsted’s deal with Equinor for&nbsp; 0.33 mt of CDRs BECCS permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere, and at the same time, it generates 24/7 renewable power. This provides an additional revenue stream to the project while adding a renewable energy source to the grid in support of increasing load growth. In short, BECCS-derived removals produce scalable, high-quality CDRs and renewable energy. Interestingly, BECCS wasn’t the only biomass-fueled solution with increased transactions in 2024—biochar and biomass removal also saw YOY growth. This success is well-positioned to continue into 2025. For example, biofuels, which are derived from biomass, were named as one of the only preferred nonfossil fuel energy solutions in President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration, alongside hydro, geothermal and nuclear. This paves the way for additional growth, while intermittent renewables like wind and solar face new headwinds. There are indications that the policy environment will only foment this trend of biomass-based engineered carbon removal growth. While it’s too soon to say if BECCS will continue to drive similar growth in 2025, we’re already seeing the year begin with two big biochar deals: Google’s deal with Charm for 100kt of CDRs, and with Varaha for 100,000 tons of CDRs.2024 VCM Insight No. 3: What Buyers Want to See For the voluntary carbon market to continue to mature, customers need ways to increase confidence in their purchases. To accomplish this, buyers are increasingly turning to: • Proven, reliable technologies like BECCS: Purchasers want to ensure their investments are truly permanent, measurable and auditable. • More established suppliers: Investing in smaller, niche projects can increase risk and raise red flags during the corporate vetting process. By going with experienced providers, customers can have greater confidence that projects will reach completion and operate as planned. • Offerings with greater pricing transparency and standardization: Customers want to ensure they’re landing fair market rates. As they see prices settle into consistent ranges, confidence is expected to rise. The 2024 VCM and early 2025 market clearly show us that customers are increasingly turning to high-quality carbon removals—predominantly from biomass-based solutions like BECCS—and they’re willing to make larger purchases when they trust the technology and supplier. Knowledgeable developers working to responsibly develop and construct projects and provide clear insight into the quality of the product they are producing, including how those products contribute to the net zero journey, can earn customer confidence. In turn, this can help expedite the reversal of the legacy emissions warming our planet, giving us a fighting chance against climate change.Author:&nbsp; Laura Wente, senior vice president, Commercial&nbsp; Elimini&nbsp;

2025-04-28 - Critical Trends, Measurable Results (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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Three Key Insights from the 
2024 Voluntary Carbon Market

Critical Trends, Measurable Results

Carbon dioxide has long been cast as a villain—a harmful emission to be reduced and eliminated, but CO2 is also a resource with transformative and valuable potential. CO2 enables new ways of manufacturing. It helps diversify hydrocarbon production right here in the U.S. It serves as a building block for sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials, reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and creating a more circular economy. By leveraging CO2 as a feedstock, industries can drive innovation, economic growth and decarbonization at scale.Reimagining Carbon: From Waste to Resource Carbon transformation represents a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize emissions. Rather than viewing CO2 as industrial waste, this innovative approach recognizes it as a valuable, and locally available resource that can be harnessed to create the materials and fuels our society depends on. Traditional carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies have primarily focused on sequestering CO2 underground or using it in processes like enhanced oil recovery. While these methods do reduce atmospheric carbon, they often fail to address the underlying issue: our dependence on fossil fuels for manufacturing essential products. Carbon transformation takes a fundamentally different approach. By using CO2 as a feedstock—a raw material that can be transformed into valuable products—this technology addresses emissions at their source while simultaneously reducing our reliance on petroleum for manufacturing. The Science Behind Carbon Transformation At the heart of carbon transformation is the process of electrolysis, which uses renewable electricity to split CO2 molecules and water. Companies like Twelve have developed proprietary technology that converts these simple inputs—carbon dioxide, water and renewable energy—into complex chemicals and fuels traditionally derived from petroleum. The resulting products, known as eFuels and eChemicals, are chemically identical to their fossil-derived counterparts but come with a crucial difference: they’re produced without extracting additional carbon from the earth. Instead, they utilize carbon that's already in our atmosphere or that was going to be emitted into the atmosphere, creating a more circular carbon economy. “We’re taking carbon that would otherwise be emitted as a waste, and turning it into the building blocks for thousands of products we use every day,” says Nicholas Flanders, CEO of Twelve. Twelve’s innovative carbon transformation process relies solely on CO2, water and renewable electricity to produce synthetic aviation fuel (SAF) and other low-carbon chemicals via CO2 electrolysis. The CO2 that Twelve’s process relies on can come from a variety of sources, including from the production of ethanol. That offers unique partnership opportunities for Twelve to develop projects with the agricultural industry and bring a strong added value to ethanol producers.&nbsp; Ethanol is produced from the fermentation of sugars contained in crops, and in the United States, is mostly derived from corn. One bushel of corn grain yields equal parts one-third ethanol, distillers grains (used as an animal feed or a source of renewable natural gas), and CO2. About 80% of ethanol plants today vent their CO2 to the atmosphere, thus missing the opportunity to monetize 1/3 of their feedstock output. Capturing CO2 is an additional cost for producers, which historically has only been justified when there is a local market for it, but today, those new markets are growing.From Emissions to Essential Products The implications of this technology extend far beyond simple carbon capture. Thousands of consumer and industrial products that currently rely on petrochemicals could instead be manufactured using carbon captured from CO2 emissions or even directly from the air. From plastics and textiles to jet fuel and cleaning products, carbon transformation could revolutionize supply chains across numerous industries. What makes this approach particularly powerful is that it doesn’t require companies to completely reinvent their products or processes. The eFuels and eChemicals produced through carbon transformation can be dropped into existing manufacturing systems, allowing for a smoother transition away from fossil fuel dependence. “We’re not asking businesses to throw out decades of investment in their production infrastructure,” explains Youssef Tazi, CO2 business development manager at Twelve. “We're offering them a way to make the same products they always have, but with a carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative footprint.” Building a Circular Carbon Economy Perhaps most exciting is the potential for carbon transformation to help establish a truly circular carbon economy. Rather than the linear “extract, use, discard” model that has dominated industrial production for centuries, carbon transformation enables a cycle where CO2 becomes a continually recycled resource. In this circular model, carbon dioxide emitted during industrial processes—which account for approximately 10% of global CO2 emissions—becomes the feedstock for new products, which will eventually release that carbon again at the end of their lifecycle. This carbon can then be recaptured and transformed once more, creating a sustainable loop that minimizes the need to extract additional fossil resources. “We’re using an industrial version of photosynthesis,” says Etosha Cave, cofounder of Twelve. “Plants have been capturing and transforming CO2 for billions of years. We’re just accelerating that process and directing it toward creating specific, useful molecules.”Economic and Security Benefits Beyond its environmental advantages, carbon transformation offers significant economic and security benefits. By developing and scaling these technologies domestically, the United States can position itself as a leader in next-generation industrial processes. This creates local jobs and technological expertise that strengthen our economy. Carbon transformation also addresses supply chain vulnerabilities by reducing reliance on imported petroleum-based products. When companies can produce essential chemicals and fuels using locally captured carbon dioxide and renewable energy, they become less susceptible to global supply disruptions and price fluctuations in the fossil fuel market. “This isn’t just about climate—it’s about American innovation and manufacturing competitiveness,” asserts James Martinez, former assistant secretary of energy. “As companies invest in carbon transformation infrastructure, they’re simultaneously investing in American industrial capacity and reducing reliance on imported energy and materials.”The Road to Widespread Adoption While carbon transformation technology is still scaling up, its potential to address both emissions reduction and sustainable manufacturing makes it a compelling piece of our climate solution puzzle. Several factors will influence its widespread adoption: 1. Technological advancement: Continued improvements in efficiency, lower carbon capture costs and scalability and scalability will make carbon transformation more economically viable across a wider range of applications. 2. Policy support: Incentives for carbon utilization, such as tax credits for products made with captured carbon, can accelerate market adoption. 3. Corporate commitments: As more companies pledge to reduce their carbon footprints, demand for materials and fuels produced through carbon transformation will grow. 4. Consumer awareness: Increasing public recognition of “made from air” products will drive market demand for goods produced through carbon transformation.The Future is Carbon-Intelligent As carbon transformation technology continues to develop and deploy at larger scales, we move closer to a future where the products we use every day are made from air—a future where carbon emissions become valuable inputs rather than harmful outputs. This transformation of our relationship with carbon could be key to creating a sustainable, low-carbon economy. By turning our perception of carbon dioxide from problem to resource, we open new avenues for addressing a whole host of challenges, from supply chain resilience to energy independence, while continuing to produce the materials modern society relies on. In this carbon-intelligent future, the question will no longer be how to eliminate carbon from our industrial processes, but rather, how do we best utilize it to create a more sustainable and resilient world?Author Youssef Tazi&nbsp; Senior Manager of CO2 Business Development&nbsp; Twelve

2025-04-28 - Carbon Transformation (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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Twelve is transforming CO2 into essential products.

Carbon Transformation

In many underground injection control operations, injection allocations across the reservoir interval are not measured and thus are unknown. This is further complicated for a fluid like supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) because injectivity is expected to vary significantly over time due to reservoir dynamics like pressure cycling and salt precipitation. If anything, these dynamics place a higher priority on storage operators measuring CO2 injectivity at the highest possible spatial resolution. This allows plume models to be optimally history-matched with time-lapse seismic imaging. The result is higher confidence in forecasting plume migration during and after injection operations.&nbsp; Over the past 15 years, the oil and gas industry has seen the rapid adoption of fiber optic sensing for downhole monitoring of distributed temperature and acoustic sensors along the entire wellbore for a wide variety of production and injection applications. Fiber optic cables installed behind casing or on tubing, along with injection and tubing pressure and temperature gauges, provide crucial downhole data about the reservoir dynamics. In unconventional wells, fluids and proppants were pumped in stages without any feedback about conformity or stimulated reservoir volume. This raised questions about where oil and gas production was really coming from. In recent years, fiber optic sensing has “turned on the lights” downhole. Its real-time analysis now advises on stimulation operations down to the perforation cluster interval, improving our understanding of where oil and gas are produced.Wells Deploying Fiber Optics for Field-Scale Monitoring The carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) industry has begun deploying fiber optic sensing in Class VI wells for measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of mechanical integrity testing and vertical seismic profiling (VSP). VSP provides time-lapsed images of the CO2 plume developing in the subsurface. Ideally, time-lapse VSP imaging should be calibrated with CO2 volumetrics. Without fiber optics, operators have limited sensing capabilities across the reservoir interval and require periodic interventions to evaluate well integrity. Certain unconventional and CCUS wells use similar perforated cased hole completions across the reservoir intervals. An opportunity exists to leverage the learning curve from unconventionals and quantify CO2 injection allocations down to the perforation cluster to help improve CCUS injection control operations and time-lapse VSP imaging of the CO2 plume.Cluster Characterization Addresses Gaps However, a significant gap exists in MRV: the measurement of supercritical CO2 flow at the scale of the perforation cluster. In both research and practice, we still do not have the full picture of how CO2 is being dynamically allocated in CCUS wells during injection operations. Injection intervals can span hundreds to thousands of feet. This adds a layer of complexity when we try to determine where and how much CO2 is being injected into which formation and when. While injection logging provides some insights, they are only periodic snapshots and can alias temporal reservoir dynamics. Halliburton Jet Research Center in Alvarado, Texas includes perforation laboratories that are effectively at-scale, physical reservoir simulators for understanding production and injection operations. Studies are routinely performed to optimize the perforation designs to help maximize injection or production from a specific formation. This leads to an optimized design of service for in-field perforating operations and improved well productivity. Instrumentation for acoustic-based injectivity monitoring with distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) further augments those simulations to understand CO2 injectivity at reservoir temperature and pressure. We can develop unique relationships between the acoustic responses and supercritical fluid flow rates from well to formation via perforations at different pressures and temperatures.Lab to the Field Learning from unconventionals, fiber optic sensing can turn on the lights for CCUS and quantify CO2 injection allocations. We can now perform at-scale simulations in the perforation laboratory to determine the expected acoustic responses for specific reservoirs, perforating designs, and injection operations. We can understand the acoustic response to individual CCUS operations a priori. When implemented in VISUM, our real-time downhole analysis software, this accelerated learning curve helps to deliver quantification of CO2 injection allocations at the perforation interval from the start-up of injection operations. This reduces the need for in-situ calibration with intervention operations. The improved understanding of reservoir dynamics helps improve our understanding of plume development and migration by calibrating time-lapse VSP images with CO2 volumetrics.&nbsp; To learn more about how Halliburton helps companies overcome CCUS challenges, visit <a href="https://www.halliburton.com/en/low-carbon-solutions/carbon-capture-utilization-storage">www.halliburton.com/CCUS</a>.&nbsp; Author:&nbsp; Dr. Glenn Wilson, Head of Measurement,&nbsp; Reporting &amp; Verification, Low Carbon Solutions

2025-04-28 - SPOTLIGHT: Injectivity and Monitoring Lessons Learned  from Oil & Gas Transfer to CCUS Projects (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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Halliburton tests acoustic-based injectivity monitoring at the perforation scale to characterize supercritical fluid injection into permeable rock formations at reservoir conditions

SPOTLIGHT: Injectivity and Monitoring Lessons Learned  from Oil & Gas Transfer to CCUS Projects

In the face of economic uncertainty, diversifying carbon capture technology will help keep Canada’s industry competitive globally. Expanding the range of carbon capture, utilization and storage options available to companies will increase adoption and reduce the cost of this essential technology.&nbsp; Canada is entering a time of economic uncertainty. Many discussions have centered around the need to increase the productivity of Canada’s industries to remain competitive on a global stage. The energy industry has been looking across its operations to find ways to cut costs while maintaining efficiency and environmental performance. There have been many conversations about various aspects of production, but finding ways to bring costs down when it comes to emissions reduction is essential to the industry remaining competitive globally. Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is a big part of that conversation. In late January, it was announced that InnoTech Alberta would receive a total of $4.5 million from Natural Resources Canada, the government of Alberta and industry to improve the energy and cost efficiency of the leading carbon capture technology, and this has Alberta’s energy industry talking. They already see the potential for this and other emerging commercial CCUS technologies to be integrated into their operations, reducing the emissions intensity of energy production. However, the next stage of that conversation is often more complicated. Commercially available carbon capture technology is still too expensive for widespread adoption.&nbsp; We know that the use of existing commercially available technology will allow the industry to make progress on reducing emissions for targeted parts of their operations, but, more variations and options in CCUS technologies are going to be needed to make further significant emissions reductions possible in the future. Investing in the adoption of current CCUS technology isn’t the only answer. We can (and should) invest in diversifying the types of technologies available for adoption. That’s where InnoTech Alberta comes in. As Alberta's leading research and technology organization, we ensure that Alberta is always one step ahead by providing innovative solutions to global challenges facing industries, businesses and the public sector. Currently, there is only one widely available type of carbon capture technology and only a few technology vendors provide it globally. Not only does that make the technology expensive, but it also means that this single technology must fit all needs.&nbsp; Increased competition will help CCUS technology improve. For example, increasing the number of alternative fuel vehicles available for purchase, including those relying on hydrogen, is increasing competition and reducing the up-front costs for consumers. They offer a range of fuel options that fit consumers’ diverse needs. The same supply-and-demand equation will be true on an industrial scale for CCUS. InnoTech is helping speed that process along. By connecting with technology developers and users, we are identifying the emerging challenges the industry faces, allowing us to identify and kick-start the development of new solutions that will help reduce and capture emissions while lowering costs. Our work in this space is already making an impact. The $4.5 million in funding provided by the Government of Alberta, NRCan and industry will enable us to evaluate a new, more cost-effective and energy-efficient version of the existing amine carbon capture process, the most widely available carbon capture technology. A new technology that captures and stores emissions directly from the exhaust stacks of heavy haulers is ready to be tested in the field as well. And we’re also looking way outside the box; our team is developing brand-new technologies that reduce the need to capture carbon at all. Not all these technologies will make it into the field, but expanding the range of potential options available is the first step to diversifying any market. By spurring their development now, we are ensuring that enough of these technologies will be available to help the industry continue to reduce emissions into the future. If there were ever a time for work like this, it’s now. &nbsp;

2025-04-28 - The Future of CCUS Starts in Alberta (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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In the face of economic uncertainty, diversifying carbon capture technology will help keep Canada’s industry competitive globally. Expanding the range of carbon capture, utilization and storage options available to companies will increase adoption and reduce the cost of this essential technology. 

The Future of CCUS Starts in Alberta

As the CCUS industry faces ongoing uncertainty, with economic challenges and evolving regulatory landscapes, one thing remains clear: The drive for scalable decarbonization is unwavering. Despite these hurdles, we continue to adapt and innovate, forging ahead with determination. Whether it be through technological diversification, enhanced safety measures, or improved monitoring solutions, we remain on course, ready to meet the global demand for sustainable, long-term carbon reduction. We start by looking up, quite literally, to Canada, where Bonnie Drozdowski of InnoTech Alberta outlines the province’s efforts to remain competitive in an increasingly uncertain economic environment. Alberta’s energy industry is at a crossroads, where reducing emissions without sacrificing productivity is paramount. On page 5, Drozdowski emphasizes the importance of diversifying carbon capture technologies to lower costs and boost industry adoption. Alberta’s recent funding initiative to enhance carbon capture technology reflects a clear recognition of the need for more cost-effective solutions and how expanding the options available for CCUS will keep business competitive, ensuring that they have the tools necessary to significantly reduce their emissions over time. Building on the theme of innovation, we turn to page 8, where Dr. Glenn Wilson of Halliburton examines the company’s breakthrough work in injectivity monitoring. Halliburton’s deployment of fiber optic sensing and acoustic-based monitoring technologies is transforming the way CO2 injection is measured in underground reservoirs. By capturing real-time data, Halliburton’s technology allows for more precise understanding of CO2 migration, which is essential for optimizing plume modeling and enhancing the effectiveness of carbon storage operations. Reports show that the public’s top concern of CCUS is safety, and this level of monitoring will ensure that injection operations are safer, more efficient, and more reliable. On page 10, we delve into Twelve’s work on carbon transformation technologies, which represent a game-changing shift in how we think about carbon emissions. Twelve is leading efforts to convert CO2 into valuable products like fuels, chemicals and materials using electrolysis. This emerging approach to carbon utilization not only helps capture carbon but also puts it to productive use, thus accelerating the transition to a circular carbon economy. By expanding the potential uses of captured CO2, Twelve is providing an innovative path toward achieving sustainability goals while simultaneously creating economic value. When focusing on carbon dioxide removals, it is important to address the voluntary carbon market (VCM). On page 14, we focus on carbon removal through bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. This growing market is shaping the future of carbon removal strategies, as industries seek to offset emissions and meet sustainability targets. The article sheds light on how the VCM is evolving, and how it offers both challenges and opportunities for companies aiming to participate in carbon removal initiatives. Finally, we bring it right back to the public’s top concern—safety. The importance of pipeline safety in the growing CCUS infrastructure landscape cannot be overstated. As Dave Elam from TRC Environmental Corp. emphasizes on page 18, transporting captured CO2 over long distances presents a significant challenge, requiring robust regulatory frameworks and innovative monitoring solutions. His insight highlight the need for safe, well-regulated pipelines to ensure the scalability of CCUS projects and maintain public trust as these technologies expand. As we look to the future, the path forward for CCUS may still be filled with challenges, but our collective adaptability, innovation and commitment to decarbonization will guide us. By embracing new technologies, strengthening safety measures and fostering collaboration, we are building a foundation for scalable, long-term solutions. &nbsp;

2025-04-28 - Embracing Innovation and Safety in Uncertain Times (Carbon Capture Magazine)

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As the CCUS industry faces ongoing uncertainty, with economic challenges and evolving regulatory landscapes, one thing remains clear: The drive for scalable decarbonization is unwavering.

Embracing Innovation and Safety in Uncertain Times

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Cover_CCM_i125.jpg

Carbon Capture Magazine - Issue 1 2025 (w/ Directory)

Carbon Capture Magazine - Issue 1 2025 (w/ Directory)

Columns

The Future of CCUS Starts in Alberta

Embracing Innovation and Safety in Uncertain Times

Contributions

Pipeline Safety

Critical Trends, Measurable Results

Carbon Transformation

Departments

SPOTLIGHT: Injectivity and Monitoring Lessons Learned from Oil & Gas Transfer to CCUS Projects