{"id":50002,"date":"2020-12-24T03:26:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T19:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daxueconsulting.com\/?p=50002"},"modified":"2021-11-18T10:58:37","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T02:58:37","slug":"ccus-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daxueconsulting.com\/ccus-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching China\u2019s 2060 carbon neutral pledge: Carbon Capture and the technologies behind it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the COVID-19 pandemic was the main topic of discussion at the 75th<\/sup> United Nations general assembly, China took the world by surprise<\/a> by making a bold and unexpected pledge: reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. An ambitious plan to tackle global warming considering China is the country emitting the most CO2 in the world<\/a>. To achieve carbon neutrality, China will have to invest considerably into nuclear and renewable energy<\/a>, but it is unlikely that it will give up on coal entirely, by far the biggest energy industry in China.<\/a> A solution for to reconcile one of the most polluting energy industries and reach China\u2019s 2060 carbon neutral pledge : the use of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon capture is a necessary element to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celcius. According to a report by Mordor Intelligence<\/a>, the global CCUS market size is expected to grow from USD 1.6 billion in 2020 to USD 3.5 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 17%.  CCUS in China is still in its infancy<\/a>, but is about to reach very high demand to meet the 2060 carbon neutral pledge.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: EIA.gov. China is still heavily reliant on coal production and consumption<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is making a push towards nuclear and renewable energy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to tackle global warming but also to reduce the rise in illnesses caused by heavy pollution which has been an increasingly concerning problem, China has been doing a push towards green energies for years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about green markets in China<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to long term planning and government funding with notably the 12th<\/sup> five-year plan<\/a> from 2011 to 2015, China is now ranking world first in several green energy industries. China is notably the world\u2019s largest producer of wind and hydroelectric energy as well as the largest consumer of solar energy and the world\u2019s first and fastest growing EV market<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"China's<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Source: IEA. China’s EV market is the largest in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not considered a renewable energy, nuclear power is another source of energy with limited CO2 emissions and China has big ambitions in that sector<\/a>. Even though nuclear energy\u2019s sustainability has been in the center of many debates in the global warming discussion, China is planning on developing it as a cleaner and more efficient alternative to coal. These efforts are paying off as China is projected to be the third country generating the most nuclear power by 2020 behind the United States and France. But despite China\u2019s 2060 carbon neutral pledge and the efficiency of nuclear energy, it is unlikely that China will entirely phase out its massive coal production, this is where carbon capture technology comes into play.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly is Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Three ways of capturing carbon emissions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) consists in a process trapping the CO2 at it source, storing it and then either repurposing it or burying it, the goal being to reduce CO2 emissions and global warming. Carbon Capture has been used for years by the oil and gas industries to optimize hydrocarbons<\/a> extraction, only recently it has been considered for environmental purposes. There are three ways to capture CO2 emissions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n