Oil and gas firm bp has teamed-up with CarbonFree to develop a number of carbon capture and utilisation projects at industrial sites.

Source: GasWorld

A carbon capture specialist, CarbonFree has an ambition to capture 10% of the world’s industrial carbon with its SkyCycle™ technology. The SkyCycle™ technology will be deployed at each site targeted by the duo.

SkyCycle™ captures and utilises carbon emissions from hard-to-abate industrial sources by converting CO2 into specialty chemicals, including calcium carbonate.

Orlando Alvarez, Senior Vice-President of Gas and Power Trading in the Americas at bp, said CarbonFree’s SkyCycle™ technology can play a role in helping heavy industry make progress toward Net Zero targets.

bp ventures has been an investor in CarbonFree for nearly 10 years.

As a valued supporter for nearly a decade, bp understands our technology and the potential impact it can have on helping decarbonise hard-to-abate industrial sites.

Martin Keighley, CEO of CarbonFree

bp’s ambition is to become a Net Zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to Net Zero. The company is heavily investing in low carbon energy businesses in the US and globally including bioenergy, e-mobility, renewables and hydrogen.

The emergence of the hydrogen economy and a renewed focus on decarbonising ‘hard-to-abate’ industrial sectors such as cement and steel manufacturing has led to CCUS becoming a major talking point when it comes to the discussion of Net Zero targets.

2021’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) saw the fostering of multi-country partnerships in CCUS and a new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in the US provided a combined $15bn to support CCUS and low-carbon hydrogen production.

In addition to the announcement of 20 CCUS projects revealed in 2022 alone, advances have also happened in licensing and permitting for geological CO2 storage throughout the year. Norway, Russia and Australia all saw an increasing in licensing activity and the UK launched a CO2 storage licensing round consisting of 13 areas across the North Sea.

In the US, the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act could improve the 45Q tax credit incentive for carbon sequestration.

The combination of fuel switching and CCUS could act as a steppingstone for hard-to-abate sectors to reach full decarbonisation. Blue hydrogen – where CCUS disposes of the CO2 produced during steam methane reforming (SMR) – is expected to act as a bridge for green hydrogen once electrolyser capacity catches up.