Negative CO₂

Bio-CLC: Chemical-Looping Combustion (CLC) captures CO2 by separating it from other gases in the combustion process, which eliminates the need for costly and energy demanding CO2 separation later. More specifically, this happens through oxidation of fuels with oxygen provided with solid oxygen carrier particles rather than with air. Because of this, CLC is expected to have at least 50% lower energy penalty and cost than any other CO2 capture technology.

BioCLC is also able to produce power and/or steam for industrial and other applications, eliminates thermal NOx emissions and has potential to achieve more efficient fuel utilization compared to ordinary biomass combustion. The Negative CO2 project uses and strengthens Nordic expertise and competence in fluidized bed technology.

Chemical-Looping Combustion of biomass (BioCLC) would allow biomass-burning operators to achieve not just neutral, but negative CO2 emissions – taking it out of the atmospheric cycle and thereby helping to combat climate change.

CCS: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process of capturing CO2 from large point sources and storing it in special underground storage sites.

To avoid out of control climate change, we must limit global average temperature to 2^°C relative to pre-industrial levels. This will require deep decarbonisation and a suite of technologies, including renewables, energy efficiency and tackling emissions from industry and fossil power sources with CCS.

CCS – Carbon Capture and Storage – is a set of technologies that reduce CO₂ emissions from point sources like fossil power plants and industrial facilities. The CO₂ is captured before being transported to an underground storage site.

The greatest source of CO₂ emissions are big coal power plants that emit large volumes of CO2 directly into the atmosphere. However, gas power plants, steel, cement and other large industrial plants will also need to deploy CCS in a carbon constrained world.

Bio-CCS: Emissions resulting from combustion of sustainably produced and processed biomass are recognised as being neutralised – i.e. virtually zero – over time, as new biomass is grown to replace it and take up the same amount of CO₂. If the CO₂ emitted in such processes is captured and stored using CCS, carbon-negative value chains are attained which withdraw more CO₂ from the atmosphere than they emit. This is Bio-CCS (also known as BECCS).

The Intergovernmentral Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report relies on negative emissions to keep temperature rise below 2^°C.