Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Technology Development in a Region with High CO2 Emissions and Low Storage Potential—A Case Study of Upper Silesia in Poland

Abstract

The region of Upper Silesia, located in southern Poland, is characterised by very high emissions of carbon dioxide into the air—the annual emission exceeds 33 Mt CO2 and the emission ‘per capita’ is 7.2 t/y in comparison to the EU average emission per capita 6.4 t/y and 8.4 t/y for Poland in 2019. Although in the region there are over 100 carbon dioxide emitters covered by the EU ETS, over 90% of emissions come from approximately 15 large hard coal power plants and from the coke and metallurgical complex. The CCUS scenario for Upper Silesia, which encompasses emitters, capture plants, transport routes, as well as utilisation and storage sites until 2050, was developed. The baseline scenario assumes capture of carbon dioxide in seven installations, use in two methanol plants and transport and injection into two deep saline aquifers (DSA). The share of captured CO2 from flue gas was assumed at the level of 0.25–0.9, depending mainly on the limited capacity of storage. To recognise the views of society on development of the CCUS technologies in Upper Silesia, thirteen interviews with different types of stakeholders (industry, research and education, policy makers) were conducted. The respondents evaluated CCU much better than CCS. The techno-economic assessment of CCUS carried out on a scenario basis showed that the economic outcome of the scenario with CCUS is EUR 3807.19 million more favourable compared to the scenario without CO2 capture and storage.