Companies and governments need to honour the pledges made on the development of clean energy technologies, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and low-carbon hydrogen.
This is the view of Wood MacKenzie, a global energy consultancy, who have issued a new report – CCUS and hydrogen: 5 things to look for in 2022, which highlights the momentum gathered in 2021, including the announcement of new projects, investment and policies, as well as COP26, as well as the challenges faced in the deployment of carbon capture and Hydrogen technologies.
According to the report; the project pipeline for said technologies saw ‘record growth’ in 2021. Fifty new carbon capture projects were announced globally, while the size of the hydrogen pipeline more than doubled.
Mhairidh Evans, principal analyst, CCUS and Emerging Technologies, and co-author of the report said:
“The coming year will be about maturing projects and securing funding. About 75% of the CCUS pipeline is in early development. For hydrogen, almost 40% of the project pipeline does not have an estimated date of operation and 25% does not have an estimated capacity. A mark of success for 2022 will be more projects in advanced development or under construction.”
Wood Mackenzie is following the progress of 15 x CCUS projects, aiming for final investment decision this year, which if developed successfully, will add approximately 35 Mtpa of new CO2 capture or storage capacity and will require investment of around US$18 billion.
The report states that more than US$66 billion was invested in hydrogen in 2021, on R&D projects through to transport. It also states that in 2022, 33 projects – mainly in Europe and Asia – should begin operation, which will see 0.1 Mtpa of low carbon hydrogen and 50 ktpa of green ammonia enter the market.
