THE ROLE OF THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION IN GLOBAL PRACTICE: EMISSION REDUCTION, UTILIZATION AND STORAGE OF HYDROCARBON

Abstract

The energy sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. In turn, climate change can disrupt energy networks themselves, strain infrastructure and create security risks for people.

Producing electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels – coal, oil or gas – produces large amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, which blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat.

Carbon abatement, utilization, and storage involve reducing carbon dioxide levels, typically at large single-point sources such as power plants or industrial facilities that use fossil fuels or biomass as fuel. If the resulting CO2 is not used on-site, it is compressed and transported by pipeline, ship, rail, or truck for use in a variety of applications, or injected into deep geologic formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers.

Hydrocarbon abatement, utilization and storage can be retrofitted into existing power plants and industrial plants, allowing them to operate continuously. Companies, through restructuring, can address hydrocarbon emissions in sectors that are difficult to reduce capacity, especially in sectors such as cement, steel or chemicals. Reducing emissions, utilization and storage of hydrocarbon can balance emissions that are impossible or technically difficult to reduce.