The CCCA - Climate Change Centre Austria - as a research community network organisation, feels committed to positioning CCU and CCS as a key research priority and, together with the IIÖ (Institute for Industrial Ecology) and BioBASE, invites the CCU/CCS community to network more closely through joint workshops and stakeholder engagement, and to present its activities beyond this research community.
8th Carbon Capture FORUM on 15 March 2024 at the Climate Fund in Vienna
Following the welcome remarks by Urban Peyker – Head of the "Industry, Business and Finance" department at the Climate Fund, Bernhard Windsperger, as co-organiser of the Carbon Capture FORUM, introduced the topic.
As an international contribution from CO2 Value Europe, a platform of the CCU community in Europe, Célia Sapart presented the findings of a study, before Matthias Braun from the BMK's "General Climate Policy" department spoke about the treatment of CCU in the ETS Directive. From a business perspective, Martin Pischler, Senior Vice-President of RHI-Magnesita, and Felix Papsch (CCU through carbonation of cement-bound building materials), Head of Technology and Environment at VÖZ, presented options, products and processes for storing CO2 in products. The series of presentations concluded with a presentation of the technology of start-up sequstra in the field of CCU – by Lukas Höber, co-founder and CEO. The event was hosted by Thomas Timmel, BioBASE.
The key messages of the 8th Carbon Capture Forum can be summarised as follows:
- The definition of permanent storage and the associated obligation to provide evidence could be perceived by industry stakeholders as a barrier to investment. A holistic LCA could help recognise a wide variety of CO2 utilisations.
- In principle, many participants supported the view that CO2 emissions should be counted where they have a climate impact. This, in turn, cannot be reconciled with the currently applicable ETS Directive.
- There remains a lack of understanding as to why non-ETS emissions and ETS emissions are treated differently, and why there is no continuity or cross-sectoral consideration of CO2 reduction measures.
- For a clear yet comprehensive CO2 policy, fossil and mineral emissions should be recorded separately. (particularly relevant for mining companies.)
- The positive list in the currently developing legal act for the recognition of CCU in the ETS is seen as an opportunity to accommodate further CO2 applications. However, Matthias Braun emphasised that current developments are strongly oriented towards permanent, chemical storage through recarbonation.
In addition, here are some further links to: https://co2-chemistry.eu/
presentation from a recent event of eceee (and the reference study) about CCUS in the EU https://www.eceee.org/library/conference_proceedings/eceee_Industrial_Summer_Study/2024/1-processes-and-technologies-to-meet-future-challenges/carbon-capture-utilization-and-storage-in-the-european-union/ The main study is here https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/cecd6d41-7230-11ee-9220-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
2. Circular Carbon Economy Summit - BioBASE
Review of the 7th Carbon Capture FORUM "Conflicting Objectives" from 15.12.2023
Following the annual review of the activities of the Carbon Capture FORUM in 2023, which is a community effort between CCCA and IIÖ and BioBASE GmbH, the study results from CO2FOKUS on social and societal acceptance were presented by Adriana DIAZ (ECODESIGN).
Christopher LAMPORT (Head of the "General Climate Policy" department at BMK) outlined the political conflicting objectives at the meta level in the context of CCU and CCS as well as the Carbon Management Strategy. This was followed by the ecological aspects (on behalf of Helmut HABERL), with reference to BECCS, before Katharina BENEDETTER elaborated on the communication and individual aspects.
An invitation was also extended to participate in an ongoing project on carbon management in Styria, and the project was outlined. For further questions, please contact Raphaela MAIER.
As a conclusion, it was noted that all technologies, including CCU and CCS, require the early integration of all goal dimensions in order to identify and resolve potential conflicts at an early stage. This includes both potential conflicts within a single goal dimension (e.g. climate protection vs. biodiversity) as well as cross-cutting conflicts between dimensions (e.g. ecology vs. economy).
After the discussion round, a survey was conducted on desired topics for 2024.
As a save-the-date, we'd like to flag Friday, 15 March 2024.
"CCU and CCS as essential components of a Carbon Management Strategy", on 15 September 2023, 9:00–11:00, ONLINE
Following the five workshops of the Carbon Capture FORUM on the topics of "CCS Roundtable", "Community Building", "CCU and CCS in Climate Accounting", "Potentials of Nature-Based Solutions for Long-Term Carbon Storage", and "CCU | CCS – Infrastructure and Legal Framework Conditions", we'd like to invite you to our next session, "CCU and CCS as essential components of a Carbon Management Strategy", on 15 September 2023 between 9:00–11:00 ONLINE.
The aim is to discuss the role of CCU and CCS in a Carbon Management Strategy and to explore the key elements of such a strategy. Experts will provide short input presentations, followed by a discussion to explore further dimensions.
Please register here to receive the access details. You'll receive the workshop agenda roughly a week before the event.
9:00–9:10 Bernhard Windsperger | Opening and introduction to the topic
- Alina BRAD | Management Strategies and Policy Level | University of Vienna
- Wolfgang BRENNER | Limits of Implementation | WKÖ
- Berit ERLACH | Experience from Germany | acatech
- Jose DELGADO | National and International Legal Framework Conditions | Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF)
10:10–10:50 Discussion
10:50–11:00 Summary and outlook
End
Subject to change | preliminary programme
On 15 June 2023, the 5th Carbon Capture FORUM took place in Vienna under the title "CCU/CCS – Infrastructure and Legal Framework Conditions".
Find the presentation available for download here!
We'd like to thank everyone for the lively, fascinating and constructive discussion. Here's a brief summary, which can of course only capture a small selection of all the contributions made:
There are a number of open questions regarding the legal framework for CCU and CCS, particularly with regard to other regulations, ordinances, and rules (e.g. regulations on the safe storage of hazardous substances). The ministries also called for requirements from industry and business regarding planning certainty. Whether the CCS ban in Austria will be lifted will be decided in the course of the year. A framework will then also need to be established to enable the required predictability. The expected report from the BMF will initially provide recommendations, which will then need to be adapted in the various pieces of legislation. The currently envisaged CCU regulations are not yet fully formulated at this stage, particularly with regard to what the mandatory storage duration in products must be. It also remains open how a possible crediting of CO2 recycling loops would be handled. However, it appears that under the ETS, only permanently bound CO2 would be credited within the ETS system, which would eliminate a key incentive for the industry in central areas of the petrochemical sector to use CO2 as a substitute for fossil raw materials. In addition, safety standards must be clearly defined to prevent possible CO2 leaks from storage sites. The current situation regarding bilateral contract arrangements can be supported by expertise from the ministry.
4th Carbon Capture FORUM, on WED, 15 March 2023 – Online
Please find below a brief summary, the presentations attached, and further links (some of which were posted in the chat).
At the 4th Carbon Capture Forum on 15.03.2023, the potentials of nature-based solutions for long-term carbon storage were explored.
To kick things off, four input presentations provided an initial overview of different approaches in the field of nature-based solutions.
Tobias Stern, Professor of Energy and Resource Innovations at the University of Graz, addressed carbon storage in long-lived wood products, also known as Harvested Wood Products (HWP). The discussion covered the significance of half-lives for the model-based recording of CO2 emissions and the influence of aspects such as the implementation of cascading use.
A presentation by Tobias Pröll, Professor at the Institute of Process Engineering and Energy Technology at BOKU Vienna, introduced the coupling of bioenergy technologies with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). As a negative-emission technology, BECCS has the potential to be part of the solution for achieving climate targets. An outlook on promising pilot projects abroad rounded off the presentation.
Elisabeth Wopienka, Area Manager at BEST, provided fascinating insights in her presentation into CO2 sequestration via pyrolysis and the associated production of biochar and bio-pyrolysis oil. During the joint discussions, it was repeatedly noted that pyrolysis technology can be viewed as a complement to (rather than a competing technology with) BECCS. While some biomass fractions cannot be used in BECCS plants, they are excellent feedstocks for pyrolysis processes.
A final presentation by Tudor Dobra, researcher at the Austrian Institute for Building and Ecology, addressed the evaluation of carbon sequestration using dynamic LCA and presented the advantages of this new accounting method.
This was followed by an interdisciplinary and productive discussion among participants, covering technical details of individual technologies, the pros and cons of the respective approaches, as well as more fundamental aspects such as recognition as a CCU or CCS measure and its impact on the prospects for success of these approaches.
Questions focused on CO2 certificates for timber construction products, the monetary valuation of timber construction products, the service life of timber construction products, limitations of wood availability, recycling of timber structures, and then moved on to the addition of biochar to concrete, as well as "climate concrete".
On BECCS, questions arose regarding the accounting of BECCS as removals, and BECCS vs. pyrolysis (which are not in competition with each other).
On pyrolysis, there were questions about energy yield vs. bound energy (50% remains non-energetically utilised, as it is sequestered as carbon, while around 50% is energetically usable), the use of pyrolysis oil, costs, and the use of biochar in agriculture and forestry.
We look forward to welcoming you in person in Vienna at our next Carbon Capture Forum on 15 June. More details coming soon!
Presentation downloads:
- Tobias STERN | Uni Graz - CO2 storage in long-lived wood products
- Tobias PRÖLL | BOKU - Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS)
- Elisabeth WOPIENKA | Best-research - CO2 sequestration via pyrolysis
- Tudor DOBRA | IBO - Evaluation of carbon sequestration using dynamic LCA
- Environmental law forum relating to soil protection https://oeffentliches-recht.uni-graz.at/de/veranstaltungen/detail/article/grazer-umweltrechtsforum-2023/
- Guidelines:
