Exploring the Potential Role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for Power Plants in the German and the International Context – a Multi-Dimensional Assessment Approach
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https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-202103114093
https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-202103114093
Title: | Exploring the Potential Role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for Power Plants in the German and the International Context – a Multi-Dimensional Assessment Approach |
Authors: | Viebahn, Peter |
ORCID of the author: | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6715-0295 |
Abstract: | Especially since the turn of the millennium, several studies and roadmaps have discussed carbon capture as storage (CCS) as a technology option that could make a significant contribution to achieving the objective of decreasing GHG emissions for many years. Particularly in the power sector, however, these expectations have not yet been met. As of November 2019, worldwide only two small base-load power plants, capturing a total of 2.4 Mt CO2/year and mainly using it for EOR, are in operation, together with a few pilots in industrial applications and, in particular, natural gas processing (in total 30 Mt CO2/year). In the face of this failing, the aim of the thesis is to undertake an (energy) systems-analytical assessment of CCS in the power sector that would make it possible to draw conclusions about the potential future role of CCS. The analysis is based on three main research questions: (1) What role could the application of CCS in the power sector play from a holistic perspective in a decarbonised, technologically open energy system? How would conceivable CCS paths look like (e.g. technologies, infrastructures, development periods, investments)? (2) What are the key determinants of the high expectations for CCS in the electricity sector? (3) Have the approaches and methods used so far as basis for policy advice been suitable for the assessment of complex low-carbon technologies? If not, what possible options are available to assess a technology in a future-oriented way? One of the central conclusions is that mainly conducting techno-economic assessments and applying cost-optimising macroeconomic energy models might no longer be sufficient for policy advice, particularly in view of the challenges posed by a complex system as the energy system with hundreds of central parameters. Instead, a more integrative and inter-temporal systems-analytical view is necessary which should consider the following aspects: (a) Extending techno-economic assessments to holistic assessments, taking into account different assessment dimensions, (b) Evaluating a technology with respect to a complex system environment in which it is embedded, (c) Taking a long-term perspective with a time horizon of 2050 or longer in order to be able to consider the dynamics of future developments, and (d) Evaluating an emerging technology like CCS not only as a standalone technology, but also in comparison with competing technologies. Finally, it is recommended to apply such a systems-analytical view to a couple of future applications of CCS, which are currently under discussion, such as CCS in energy-intensive industries, hydrogen generation based on natural gas and CCS (“blue hydrogen”), or negative emission technologies (NET) such as biomass and CCS (BECCS) or direct air capture and CO2 storage (DACCS). |
Citations: | Viebahn, Peter: Exploring the Potential Role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for Power Plants in the German and the International Context – a Multi-Dimensional Assessment Approach. Habilitationsschrift. Universität Osnabrück, Fachbereich 06 Mathematik / Informatik, Fachgebiet Systemwissenschaften, 2019 |
URL: | https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-202103114093 |
Subject Keywords: | CCS; Carbon Capture and Storage; Multi-Dimensional Assessment; Technology Assessment |
Issue Date: | 11-Mar-2021 |
License name: | Attribution 3.0 Germany |
License url: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/de/ |
Type of publication: | Buch [book] |
Appears in Collections: | FB06 - Hochschulschriften |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Habilitation_2019_Viebahn.pdf | Habilitationsschrift | 1,36 MB | Adobe PDF | Habilitation_2019_Viebahn.pdf View/Open |
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