UNLEASHING THE POWER OF DIGITAL INNOVATIONS

The UN’s climate science panel estimates carbon removal technologies must increase 1,300-fold by 2050 if the world is to limit temperature rises to within two per cent. In the Middle East, companies like ADNOC, Saudi Aramco and SABIC are quickly becoming leaders in carbon mitigation initiatives in terms of innovation, commitment and investment.

Aramco, for example, signed a development agreement last November to establish a carbon capture and storage hub, aiming to store up to nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2027. Once captured, CO2 can be compressed and transported to target locations for storage underground in depleted reservoir areas or salt domes (and that is an emerging valuable resource that the Middle East and North Africa have in abundance) or for utilisation in new products and Aramco, the UAE and SABIC are all sponsoring research and development in CO2 to chemicals approaches, such as formulation of green cement. The Aramco carbon storage project will be in Jubail in Saudi Arabia, aiming to contribute six million metric tonnes of CO2 with another three million tonnes

By: Ron Beck, Senior Director, Solutions Marketing AspenTech

from other sources.

In furtherance of these aims Aramco has entered a partnership with AspenTech to introduce a unique modelling and optimization approach for strategic planning for Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) which will enable other companies in assetintensive industries to achieve better strategic planning for carbon removal.

ADNOC, meanwhile, began scaling up its CCS program which injects captured CO2 into a saline aquifer. This is part of its wider programme of carbon removal, storage and utilization initiatives built on innovation. This innovation could enable the Middle East to provide carbon removal and storage solutions that reach well beyond its boundaries.

Carbon Capture Technologies

Before organisations store carbon, they must capture it, for which two methods have emerged. The first is point-source, which removes CO2 from industrial flue gases before they enter the atmosphere. The second is direct air capture (DAC), which removes CO2 directly from the atmosphere using solar or nuclear power, large fans and chemistry. Direct air capture not only abates but removes carbon. This math can enable a company not only to employ Direct Air Capture CCS to assist hitting zero emissions, but by removing more carbon that a company emits, DAC could give a business a lower-thenzero profile, selling carbon credits to difficult-to-decarbonize industries such as steel and fertilizers.

Fast Forward To A Positive Future

For these firms to reach their net zero targets, innovation in carbon capture and the adoption of digitalisation need to advance quickly. It will therefore make sense for leading companies to work towards optimising capture and storage together, Looking ahead, digital technology remains key for rapidly improving economics, scale, and speed of implementation of carbon capture, storage and utilisation, and for storage monitoring. The UAE, for example, plans to become a worldwide hub for carbon capture expertise and innovation on the back of ADNOC’s expansion of its carbon capture capacity to five million tons per annum.