Method to identify opportunities for CCU at regional level — Matching sources and receivers

Carbon Capture and Utilization is an attractive strategy not only due to its potential for CO2 emissions reduction but also because it enables the creation of valuable products. The development of CO2-based industrial symbiosis partnerships can contribute significantly towards achieving the goals of GHG emissions reduction on a European level by 2030, while at the same time it leads to an increased added value through the development of new production lines and carbon neutral products. The presented article focuses on identifying potential partnerships between companies that produce CO2 and companies that may reuse CO2 as input for their industrial process. A novel methodological framework is presented based on developing generic matrices for CO2 sources and receivers and matching the industrial units based on geographical and technical criteria. Moreover, the paper provides the technical requirements of 17 CO2 utilization technologies with relatively high technology readiness level, including the CO2-to-product ratio, the required purity, pressure, temperature and the presence of a catalyst, as well as potential synergies and additional requirements. The methodology has been applied to the Västra Götaland region in West Sweden and the most promising CCU symbiosis have been identified. These include mineral carbonation (annual uptake: 59,600 tCO2), greenhouses (26,000 tCO2), algae production, methanol production (85,500 tCO2), power to gas (66,500 tCO2), pH control, lignin production, polymers synthesis and concrete curing (96,000 tCO2). If all of them could be applied, the total annual CO2 reduction would exceed 250,000 tCO2 per year.