Carbon accounting methods for the system-wide evaluation of carbon capture, utilisation and storage: A case study in Mexico's Southeast Region

Abstract

Existing assessments of climate mitigation technologies, like carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), often rely on life cycle assessments (LCA), which are helpful for quantification but may not always be the most complete tools for decision-making. The novel contribution of this study is to provide the first application of a consequential carbon accounting approach, presented as a time-series analysis, to measure the system-wide change in emissions from CCUS linked to CO2-enhanced oil recovery. This method includes emissions from marginal oil production, a variable typically excluded in other LCA methods. The method was applied to a hypothetical CCUS project in Mexico to understand critical factors determining whether such an intervention can effectively contribute to emissions reduction in alignment with net-zero goals. Four intervention scenarios were assessed, comparing two distinct CO2 injection strategies in oil reservoirs (water alternating gas and continuous gas injection) and two energy policy scenarios (current and sustainability). The findings suggest that the energy grid's role in overall emissions is relatively minor, with only a ∼2% difference between the compared scenarios, in contrast, the injection strategy has a significant impact on emissions. Scenarios 1 and 3 report a total change in emissions of −28.39 and −29.87MtCO2e, and scenarios 2 and 4 account for −19.63 and −21.22MtCO2e, respectively. The results highlight the importance of conducting system-wide analysis and comparing different scenarios to identify the critical components that drive changes in emissions and, therefore, support decision-making and project planning.