CCS Deployment: Don’t Take the “S” for Granted

With continued use of fossil fuels projected as the dominant global source of energy for years or even decades to come, carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains an essential component of credible international plans and ‘roadmaps’ to meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Despite this, deployment of CCS continues to lag behind projected requirements at both national and international levels.

Multiple factors have inhibited the acceleration of commercial CCS project deployment, chief among them being economic and policy considerations; much attention is rightly paid to the relatively high capital and operational costs of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture systems and resulting financial challenges. However, storage remains an essential, complex and often understated element of CCS projects. In simple terms, if capture is the expensive part of CCS, storage is the uncertain part. Furthermore, the International Energy Agency reports that the development of transport and storage is falling behind requirements to support the levels of carbon capture needed to meet “net-zero”; in effect, lack of adequate storage is creating a ‘bottleneck’ for CCS deployment.

Geological Storage is Essential—but Not a “Done Deal”

The vast bulk of captured CO2 will need to be reinjected into the deep subsurface for permanent geological storage if CCS is to be an effective climate mitigation option. Although ongoing research on the economic opportunities for the conversion of CO2 into useful products can be helpful to boost the business case for some projects, CO2 conversion itself will never be of sufficient magnitude to underpin CCS.

Geological storage of CO2 is a proven large-scale technology, both as an incidental result of injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which is considered to be “associated storage”, or where injected solely for climate mitigation purposes (dedicated storage). The latter scenario is dominated by injection into deep saline aquifers, with additional potential in depleted gas fields and with emerging opportunities in basaltic rocks through mineralization.

With decades of successful large-scale operational EOR experience and several dedicated storage projects operating at or close to 1 million metric tons of CO2 injection per year, can we then regard the technical aspects of the “S” in CCS as a “done deal” and therefore consider further applied research unnecessary?

The answer must be an emphatic “No.”

Canada’s Leadership and the Need to Keep Investing

Canada has demonstrated outstanding international leadership in CO2 storage over the last two decades, for example, through the IEAGHG Weyburn-Midale and Shell Quest projects, but significant challenges (and opportunities for improvement) remain for individual storage projects and regional deployment levels. Government and industry must continue to support research and development initiatives that allow these challenges to be addressed.

The de-risking of individual storage projects follows a well-defined, iterative and risk-based process of characterization and modelling. However, a typical large-scale dedicated storage project will require several years of effort from conception to operational status, as uncertainty is reduced through cycles of technical evaluation, site investigation and permitting. Greater collective experience of injection, coupled with technical advancements, may serve to reduce the timelines needed for storage assessment and permitting.

Once operational, every project requires monitoring, measurement and verification (MMV) to provide assurance of storage effectiveness and safety; injected CO2 must be securely contained within the permitted reservoir(s) and conform to an acceptable degree with expected behaviour. Continued research is essential to harness next-generation monitoring technologies alongside the application of AI to greatly increase the effectiveness of MMV programs and simultaneously reduce costs.

Regional Challenges and Subsurface Competition

At a regional level, CCS deployment can be hindered by both regulatory uncertainty and pore space competition—the latter exemplified in western Canada by recent friction between CCS proposals and proponents of lithium extraction from subsurface brines. In addition, the development of multiple large-scale storage sites in relative proximity to one another will have the potential to affect regional pressures in the subsurface, with implications for ultimate CO2 storage capacity, injection rates, secure containment and perceived or actual risks of induced seismicity.

Effective management of regional pore space resources and subsurface pressures will need to be supported both by coordinated geoscience research and advances in MMV technology.

Why Field Research Sites Matter

Theoretical and laboratory-based studies provide the starting point for understanding the subsurface behaviour of injected CO2 and the application of new MMV technology in a range of geological environments. However, real-world conditions are hard to replicate without field deployment. As a case in point, modelling and laboratory studies of wellbore integrity (for example, the resistance of cement and steel to corrosion) struggle to replicate the (often) more robust experience derived from industrial operations.

These limitations underline the important role of pilot-scale field research sites, such as the Newell County Field Research Station (FRS) in Alberta, or the Aquistore project in Saskatchewan. Combined government and industry support for these projects through a funding consortium approach facilitates greater scientific understanding of CO2 injection, publicly available datasets, and advancements in MMV technology—in turn, helping to accelerate storage de-risking.

Value is added to investment in these sites by the stream of international visitors from governments, trade delegations and conferences who visit the FRS and Aquistore every year to learn about CCS and storage. The relative absence of commercial sensitivity at government-funded pilot sites supports continued applied research activity, hands-on training for vocational skills, and public outreach through educational tours.

A Call to Action for CCS Deployment in Canada

My call to action, aimed at the Canadian federal government, provincial governments and Canadian industry, is simple: widespread CCS deployment in Canada requires committed and stable funding of applied research initiatives and, in particular, pilot-field sites where advancements in CO2 geological storage benefit the entire industry. The lack of support for pilot sites such as the FRS and Aquistore would represent a significant lost opportunity to progress and enhance CCS deployment across Canada.