IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aen/eeepjl/1_2_a08.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How a "Low Carbon" Innovation Can Fail--Tales from a "Lost Decade" for Carbon Capture, Transport, and Sequestration (CCTS)

Author

Listed:
  • Christian von Hirschhausen
  • Johannes Herold
  • Pao-Yu Oei

Abstract

This paper analyzes the discrepancy between the high hopes placed in Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage (CCTS) and the meager results that have been observed in reality, and advances several explanations for what we call a "lost decade" for CCTS. We trace the origins of the high hopes placed in this technology by industry and policymakers alike, and show how the large number of demonstration projects required for a breakthrough did not follow. We then identify possible explanations for the "lost decade", such as incumbent resistance to structural change, wrong technology choices, over-optimistic cost estimates, a premature focus on energy projects instead of industry, and the underestimation of transport and storage issues. We conclude it is likely that we have to live for quite some time with a cognitive dissonance in which top-down models continue to place hope in the CCTS-technology by reducing its expected fixed and variable costs, and bottom-up researchers continue to count failed pilot projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian von Hirschhausen & Johannes Herold & Pao-Yu Oei, 2012. "How a "Low Carbon" Innovation Can Fail--Tales from a "Lost Decade" for Carbon Capture, Transport, and Sequestration (CCTS)," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
  • Handle: RePEc:aen:eeepjl:1_2_a08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iaee.org/en/publications/eeeparticle.aspx?id=24
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to IAEE members and subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gibbins, Jon & Chalmers, Hannah, 2008. "Carbon capture and storage," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4317-4322, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Löffler, Konstantin & Burandt, Thorsten & Hainsch, Karlo & Oei, Pao-Yu & Seehaus, Frederik & Wejda, Felix, 2022. "Chances and barriers for Germany's low carbon transition - Quantifying uncertainties in key influential factors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    2. Staffell, Iain & Pfenninger, Stefan, 2018. "The increasing impact of weather on electricity supply and demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 65-78.
    3. Massol, Olivier & Tchung-Ming, Stéphane & Banal-Estañol, Albert, 2018. "Capturing industrial CO2 emissions in Spain: Infrastructures, costs and break-even prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 545-560.
    4. Knopf, Brigitte & Nahmmacher, Paul & Schmid, Eva, 2015. "The European renewable energy target for 2030 – An impact assessment of the electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 50-60.
    5. Mo, Jian-Lei & Schleich, Joachim & Zhu, Lei & Fan, Ying, 2015. "Delaying the introduction of emissions trading systems—Implications for power plant investment and operation from a multi-stage decision model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 255-264.
    6. Viebahn, Peter & Vallentin, Daniel & Höller, Samuel, 2015. "Prospects of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in China’s power sector – An integrated assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 229-244.
    7. Viebahn, Peter & Vallentin, Daniel & Höller, Samuel, 2014. "Prospects of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in India’s power sector – An integrated assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 62-75.
    8. Ludig, Sylvie & Schmid, Eva & Haller, Markus & Bauer, Nico, 2015. "Assessment of transformation strategies for the German power sector under the uncertainty of demand development and technology availability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 143-156.
    9. Oei, Pao-Yu & Hermann, Hauke & Herpich, Philipp & Holtemöller, Oliver & Lünenbürger, Benjamin & Schult, Christoph, 2020. "Coal phase-out in Germany – Implications and policies for affected regions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 196.
    10. Burandt, Thorsten, 2021. "Analyzing the necessity of hydrogen imports for net-zero emission scenarios in Japan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    11. Oei, Pao-Yu & Burandt, Thorsten & Hainsch, Karlo & Löffler, Konstantin & Kemfert, Claudia, 2020. "Lessons from Modeling 100% Renewable Scenarios Using GENeSYS-MOD," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 103-120.
    12. McLaughlin, Hope & Littlefield, Anna A. & Menefee, Maia & Kinzer, Austin & Hull, Tobias & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Bazilian, Morgan D. & Kim, Jinsoo & Griffiths, Steven, 2023. "Carbon capture utilization and storage in review: Sociotechnical implications for a carbon reliant world," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    13. Hall, Lisa M.H. & Buckley, Alastair R., 2016. "A review of energy systems models in the UK: Prevalent usage and categorisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 607-628.
    14. Roger Fouquet, 2012. "Economics of Energy and Climate Change: Origins, Developments and Growth," Working Papers 2012-08, BC3.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Setiawan, Andri D. & Cuppen, Eefje, 2013. "Stakeholder perspectives on carbon capture and storage in Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1188-1199.
    2. Xiaolong, Chen & Yiqiang, Li & Xiang, Tang & Huan, Qi & Xuebing, Sun & Jianghao, Luo, 2021. "Effect of gravity segregation on CO2 flooding under various pressure conditions: Application to CO2 sequestration and oil production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    3. Barelli, L. & Ottaviano, A., 2014. "Solid oxide fuel cell technology coupled with methane dry reforming: A viable option for high efficiency plant with reduced CO2 emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 118-129.
    4. Xie, Heping & Liu, Tao & Wang, Yufei & Wu, Yifan & Wang, Fuhuan & Tang, Liang & Jiang, Wen & Liang, Bin, 2017. "Enhancement of electricity generation in CO2 mineralization cell by using sodium sulfate as the reaction medium," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 991-999.
    5. Chen, Shi & Duan, Xiaoyu & Lin, Jyh-Horng & Chang, Ching-Hui, 2024. "Impact of carbon capture and storage, cap-and-trade, and multiproduct cost structure on pollution in an oligopoly," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. Christian Leßmann & Arne Steinkraus, 2016. "Kurz zum Klima: »Carbon Capture and Storage« – was kostet die Emissionsvermeidung?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(05), pages 51-54, March.
    7. Aydin, Gokhan & Karakurt, Izzet & Aydiner, Kerim, 2010. "Evaluation of geologic storage options of CO2: Applicability, cost, storage capacity and safety," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 5072-5080, September.
    8. Sagar Roy & Smruti Ragunath, 2018. "Emerging Membrane Technologies for Water and Energy Sustainability: Future Prospects, Constraints and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-32, November.
    9. Stewart Russell & Nils Markusson & Vivian Scott, 2012. "What will CCS demonstrations demonstrate?," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 651-668, August.
    10. Dongdong Song & Tong Jiang & Chuanping Rao, 2022. "Review of Policy Framework for the Development of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Jiang, Kai & Ashworth, Peta & Zhang, Shiyi & Hu, Guoping, 2022. "Print media representations of carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) technology in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Lin, Chih-Wei & Nazeri, Mahmoud & Bhattacharji, Ayan & Spicer, George & Maroto-Valer, M. Mercedes, 2016. "Apparatus and method for calibrating a Coriolis mass flow meter for carbon dioxide at pressure and temperature conditions represented to CCS pipeline operations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 759-764.
    13. Cavalcanti, Eduardo J.C. & Lima, Matheus S.R. & de Souza, Gabriel F., 2020. "Comparison of carbon capture system and concentrated solar power in natural gas combined cycle: Exergetic and exergoenvironmental analyses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 1336-1347.
    14. Kemp, Alexander G. & Sola Kasim, A., 2010. "A futuristic least-cost optimisation model of CO2 transportation and storage in the UK/UK Continental Shelf," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3652-3667, July.
    15. Maitri Verma & Alok Kumar Verma & A. K. Misra, 2021. "Mathematical modeling and optimal control of carbon dioxide emissions from energy sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 13919-13944, September.
    16. Junya Wang & Qiuyun Pu & Ping Ning & Shijian Lu, 2021. "Activated carbon‐based composites for capturing CO2: a review," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(2), pages 377-393, April.
    17. Qingchang Li & Seungkook Roh & Jin Won Lee, 2020. "Segmenting the South Korean Public According to Their Preferred Direction for Electricity Mix Reform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Shin, Jungwoo & Lee, Chul-Yong & Kim, Hongbum, 2016. "Technology and demand forecasting for carbon capture and storage technology in South Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-11.
    19. Pappalardo, G. & Selvaggi, R. & Pecorino, B., 2022. "Biomethane production potential in Southern Italy: An empirical approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    20. Rahman, Farahiyah Abdul & Aziz, Md Maniruzzaman A. & Saidur, R. & Bakar, Wan Azelee Wan Abu & Hainin, M.R & Putrajaya, Ramadhansyah & Hassan, Norhidayah Abdul, 2017. "Pollution to solution: Capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its utilization as a renewable energy source for a sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 112-126.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F0 - International Economics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aen:eeepjl:1_2_a08. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: David Williams (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaeeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.