Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) solutions: Assessing environmental, economic, and social impacts using a new integrated methodology

Abstract

Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies play a significant role in climate change mitigation, as these platforms aim to capture and convert CO2 that would be otherwise emitted into the atmosphere. Effective and economically sustainable technologies are crucial to support the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy sources by 2030 and beyond.Currently, studies exploring the financial viability of CCU technologies besides the joint analyses of life-cycle costs and environmental and social impacts are still limited.In this context, the study developed and validated an innovative and integrated methodology, called Life Cycle Cost and Sustainability Assessment (LCC-SA) which allows the joint assessment of (i) project life-cycle costs, (ii) socio-cultural and environmental externalities. This tool was validated with an application to an algal photobioreactors (PBRs) and allowed to assess the economic and environmental sustainability besides identifying the main critical issues to be addressed during the transition from pilot-scale plant to industrial application.The methodology's implementation estimated benefits in two main areas: (i) environmental, including CO2 removal and avoidance through biodiesel production instead of fossil-derived diesel; (ii) socio-cultural, encompassing new patents, knowledge spillovers, human capital formation, and knowledge outputs. The analysis returned as main result that the present value of the social externalities amounts to around EUR 550,000 and the present value of the costs to approximately EUR 60,000. The Economic Net Present Value (ENPV) is EUR 487,394, which shows the significance of the extra-financial effects generated by the research project. At full-scale application, environmental benefits include capturing 187 to 1867 tons of CO2 per year and avoiding 1.7 to 16.7 tons of CO2 annually through biodiesel production instead of fossil-derived diesel.