At the Reuters NEXT conference yesterday, Equinor’s (EQNR.OL) Vice President predicted that carbon capture and storage (CCS) services could break even within the next decade.
The prediction is based on the estimate that the cost of CO2 emissions will reach 100 euros (~$113.50) per metric ton.
According to the Vice President for Global CCS Solutions at Equinor, Torbjørg Fossum, we are currently seeing a significant gap between what it costs to implement carbon capture technology and the cost of emitting carbon dioxide.
But in his opinion, the gas is likely to be closed within the next decade.
And part of the solution for this problem is the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, which is currently the most well-established carbon market in the world.
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At this time, CO2 is traded at a rate of 76 euros per metric ton. And if that price can rise another 24 euros to reach a total of 100 euros, that would be enough for CCS to break even.
Until we reach that point, however, Fossum stressed the need of government funding to help support early projects, with the East Coast Clusters in Britain and Norways’ Northern Lights projects being pointed out as ‘good blueprints’.
Fossum also noted that in addition to carbon capture technology that is used to prevent new emissions from going into the atmosphere, the use of direct air capture (DAC) technology is also a necessity to meet climate goals.
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However, DAC is several times more expensive than CCS due to the vast amount of energy it requires to suck carbon dioxide out of the air.
The advantage of DAC systems, on the other hand, is that it is easy to place wherever there is cheap and clean energy.
