Techno-economic Analysis of Direct Air Carbon Capture with CO2 Utilisation

• Published in: Carbon Capture Science & Technology Vol. 2; p. 100025
• Main Authors: Daniel, Thorin, Masini, Alice, Milne, Cameron, Nourshagh, Neeka, Iranpour, Cameron, Xuan, Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Carbon Emissions Assessment; CCUS; Direct Air Carbon Capture; Levelized Cost; Net Present Value; Techno-economic Analysis; Direct Air Carbon Capture; CCUS; Techno-economic Analysis; Net Present Value; Carbon Emissions Assessment; Levelized Cost
• ISSN: 2772-6568; 2772-6568
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ccst.2021.100025

•Profitable DACC plant designed•LCOD range calculated between $493 & -$1783 tCO2−1•NPV range calculated between -$4.6B and $23.5B•Lifetime CO2 removal in excess of 24.2B kg CO2 Carbon capture technologies are crucial for mitigating climate change and play an important role in the net zero roadmap. Recently the greenhouse gas removal (GGR) technology has come under scrutiny as a negative emission solution which will remove CO2 from the atmosphere, either capturing it directly from the air or indirectly via biomass. This study proposed and designed a novel direct air carbon capture process integrated with a solid oxide electrolysis unit for the chemical utilisation of the captured CO2. A detailed techno-economic analysis is performed to determine if the addition of CO2 utilisation is able to offset the high cost of carbon capture. An initial net present value (NPV) and levelised cost of -$4.6B and $382 tCO2−1 were calculated, indicating the unfavourable techo-economics. However, a scenario analysis suggested that in the near future (i.e., in 4-5 years) the NPV could be positive and the levelised cost could be neutral with the advances of technology maturity and the net zero economy. A carbon emissions assessment calculated that during plant operation over 24.2B kg of carbon dioxide would be removed, and hence the real term carbon removal would be approximately 97% of the theoretical maximum.