The Technologies needed to get to Climate Neutrality
Hanno Böck
June 2024 was the hottest June on record
May 2024 was the hottest May on record
April 2024 was the hottest April on record
(you get the idea)
13 consecutive months with temperature records
NOAA
➜
Renewable Energy alone is not a solution for all emissions
Steelmaking
Directly responsible for 7% of worldwide CO₂ emissions
(including indirect emissions: 12%)
Steel emissions
Not just energy, also chemistry
Iron Ore (Hematite)
Fe₂O₃
Fe₂O₃
But you really just want the Fe (iron)
Blast Furnace (Coal)
2 Fe₂O₃ + 3 C => 4 Fe + 3 CO₂
(simplification)
Any significant reduction in emissions from steelmaking will involve
new and largely untested technology
Most promising alternative
Green Hydrogen
Direct reduction with hydrogen
Fe₂O₃ + 3 H₂ => Fe + 3 H₂O
Let's talk about hydrogen
We are currently in post hydrogen hype
Currently, almost all industrial hydrogen is made from fossil gas or coal,
and it is usually made very close to the point of use
We could make hydrogen from water with green electricity, but that takes
huge amounts of energy (green hydrogen)
We could also make hydrogen with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), but
it is unclear if that can get emissions to acceptable levels (blue hydrogen)
Hydrogen is difficult to transport
(pipeline: maybe, shipping: unlikely)
Swedish company SSAB has ambitious plans for hydrogen-based steelmaking
Converting Sweden's steel industry to hydrogen would:
Reduce Sweden's emissions by 10%
Increase Sweden's electricity production by 10%
Steelmaking with hydrogen - challenges
- Making green hydrogen requires a lot of energy
- Hydrogen is difficult to transport
- Requries higher quality iron ore
- Unlikely to be competetive with coal-based steel any time soon
What is Denmark's biggest emission source?
Cement is responsible for around 8 percent of worldwide CO₂ emissions
Cement emissions
Not just energy, also chemistry
Clinker production
CaCO₃ => CaO + CO₂
Not really any alternatives
(some very experimental technologies using calcium silicates)
What do we do if we have CO₂ emissions that we cannot avoid?
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
CCS
Capture CO₂ emissions and store them underground
You may sometimes hear something like this:
CCS is already successfully used in places like the US or Norway
Not entirely wrong, but needs some context
CCS in the United States
Enhanced Oil Recovery
If you want to understand CCS, it's sometimes interesting to read
Norwegian newspapers
CCS
High CO₂ concentration: relatively affordable
Low CO₂ concentration: very expensive
Existing CCS projects overwhelmingly use easy emission sources (high CO₂ concentration)
Existing CCS projects are almost always connected to the Oil and Gas industry
No cement plant with CCS operational
Under construction: Brevik in Norway (Heidelberg Materials)
Planned capture rate 50%
Emissions from cement
Around 2/3 chemistry (high CO₂ concentration)
Around 1/3 heat / fossil (low CO₂ concentration)
If the process heat could be electrified, capturing the remaining
emissions would be easier
Is it possible to electrify cement?
Noone has ever tried
(Some experiments in the lime industry)
There are industries where carbon-containing fuels or chemicals are probably unavoidable
(aviation, plastics, possibly shipping)
Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU)
CCU
Making chemicals or e-fuels from CO₂ and hydrogen
Needs a source of CO₂
(that is not fossil and not cement)
Direct Air Capture or biogenic (with caveats)
CCU needs lots of hydrogen
That means lots of energy
If you want to make plastics and other chemicals via CCU:
Double the world's electricity production
If you also want to run aviation on e-fuels:
Triple the world's electricity production
Eventually, CO₂ should be removed from the air
(also needs lots of energy)
Thanks for listening!
Questions?
Hanno Böck
