Carbon Capture and Utilization

Carbon Capture and Utilization (in German: CO ₂ separation and use , abbreviated to CCU ), also Carbon Dioxide Utilization (CDU; in German: CO ₂ use ), refers to the separation of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), in particular from combustion exhaust gases and its associated use in other chemical processes. An alternative, rarely used term is carbon capture and recycling (CCR).

The term is closely linked to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), in which the captured CO _{2 is} initially only stored without a container. In contrast to CCS, the primary goal of carbon capture and usage is not to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but to provide chemical raw materials . Fossil power plants with CCU technology therefore initially supply carbon dioxide as a raw material for other applications, which is temporarily bound, but is then released again when used for energy. The CCU process per se does not have any climate protection effect , but it can play an important role in a circular economy . If CCU is used instead of CCS, there is an increase in CO ₂ emissions , as the bound carbon is released again after the raw materials obtained from the CO ₂ have been used. However, if the carbon dioxide used is permanently protected from being released, the process can play an important role in climate protection.

Applications

Energy storage and fuel production

CCU is considered an important basic technology for the production of e-fuels in fully regenerative energy systems. Important areas of application for these e-fuels produced using power-to-fuel systems are applications in the transport sector that can hardly be electrified, in particular air and ship transport, where fuels with a high energy density are still required.

The CCU technology could be used to produce so-called RE gas for energy storage. Renewable gas is a fuel gas that is produced with so-called power-to-gas systems using electricity from renewable energies (RE).

The starting materials for the production of the fuels are water and carbon dioxide (in the case of methane), which are converted into hydrogen by means of water electrolysis and then converted into methane by means of methanation, among other things to stabilize the grid, when there is excess renewable energy . Suitable sources of carbon dioxide are e.g. B. biogas plants . In these, CO _{2 is produced} during biogas production , which was previously absorbed by the fermented plants, which creates a closed cycle.

Mineralization

Another promising field of application is the mineralization of CO ₂ . Through this, carbon dioxide could be chemically bound in the long term and thus permanently removed from the atmosphere, but at the same time energy-consuming raw materials such as cement could be substituted, which would reduce the CO ₂ emissions in the production of raw materials.

Beverage industry

A small part of the captured CO ₂ could be further used as " carbon dioxide " for the beverage industry . This is already being tested in a pilot plant at Chemelot in the Dutch province of Limburg .

Urea production

In January 2010, BASF and Linde KCA Dresden announced a collaboration in the field of CO ₂ capture. The extracted and concentrated CO _{2 will} then be used, for example, in urea production.

Web links

• IASS Potsdam: CO2 as Recyclable Material (CCU) - Potentials & Challenges for Society
• Lars Fischer: "How carbon dioxide should replace crude oil" at Spektrum.de
• Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies eV: co2inside.de

literature

• Ahmed Al-Mamoori et al .: Carbon Capture and Utilization Update . In: Energy Technology . tape 5 , 2017, p. 834–849 , doi : 10.1002 / duck.201600747 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Sterner , Ingo Stadler: Energy storage - requirements, technologies, integration . Berlin - Heidelberg 2014, p. 336.
2. ^ David Connolly, Henrik Lund , Brian Vad Mathiesen : Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union . In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews . tape 60 , 2016, p. 1634–1653 , doi : 10.1016 / j.rser.2016.02.025 .
3. ↑ Michael Sterner, Mareike Jentsch and Uwe Holzhammer: Energy-economical and ecological evaluation of a wind gas offer (PDF; 2.1 MB). Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES) Kassel, Feb. 2011.
4. ↑ Ulrich Eberle, Rittmar of Helmolt: Sustainable transportation based on electric vehicle concepts: a letter overview . In: Energy and Environmental Science . tape 3 , no. 6 , 2010, p. 689-699 , doi : 10.1039 / C001674H .
5. ↑ Bernd Pitschak, Jürgen Mergel, Electrolysis Process , in: Johannes Töpler, Jochen Lehmann (Eds.), Hydrogen and Fuel Cell. Technologies and Market Perspectives , Berlin Heidelberg 2014, 189–208, p. 203.
6. ↑ Hesam Ostovari et al .: Rock 'n' use of CO2: carbon footprint of carbon capture and utilization by mineralization . In: Sustainable Energy & Fuels . 2020, doi : 10.1039 / d0se00190b .
7. ↑ Carbon Capture Journal: CCS perspectives in energy intensive industries  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 10, 2011.  
8. ↑ ^{a b} BASF: BASF and Linde cooperate: Flue gas carbon dioxide capture  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press release from January 15, 2010.