CCUS and ecological transition | IFP Energies nouvelles

What should be done with the CO2 captured in industrial emissions? We’ve seen that it's possible to isolate it from the atmosphere by storing it underground. Now we also need to consider it as a resource in the context of “CCU”: CO2 Capture and Utilization. In France today, 0.8 Mt of CO2 is used per year, with the food processing industry behind 70% of that. From chemical products to construction materials, there are many ways to use CO2. There is particular potential in synthetic fuels, an area that is still being studied. Catherine Laroche, CCU R&D Project Manager, and Jean Philippe Héraud, Advanced Biofuels Project Manager, both with IFPEN, explain all of this in detail in our 5th episode. 

After talking about storing CO2, now it’s time to talk about capturing it! This is a major challenge as between 5 to 7 billion tonnes of CO2 will have to be captured every year in 2050 if we want to achieve carbon neutrality. What is the state of the different capture technologies today? An overview of projects demonstrating more effective and cheaper CO2 capture technologies with our two 4th-episode guests, Vania Santos-Moreau, 3D project manager, and Stéphane Bertholin, Cheers project manager.  

According to IEA, it would be necessary to store more than 5 billion tons of CO2 per year in 2050 in order to achieve carbon neutrality. Do we have the storage capacities to match our ambitions? Europe already has the required capacities, as Audrey Estublier, CO2 storage project manager, and Kateryna Voronetska, Compression, Transport, Wells project manager, both experts in the field at IFPEN, recount in this 3rd episode. The task now is to prepare the storage sites and ensure their safety for the coming centuries.   

For this 2nd episode, let’s question more precisely CCUS and ecological transition with Paula Coussy, CO2 Externalities Project Manager at IFPEN: from capturing the CO2 to storing it, how to deploy the CCUS on a large scale? Not only the costs are a decisive issue for the industry but also the storage and transport networks that have to be planned and coordinated.

Florence Delprat-Jannaud, Chairwoman of the CO2 Club and CO2 Coordinator at IFPEN, is the guest of this first episode which sets the scene: CCUS technologies, their role in carbon neutrality and the main challenges facing the industry.

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