CCS Research Well Positioned, but Expandable

In the coming decades, a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be necessary to reduce the consequences of man-made global warming. For many years, CO2 capture and storage (CCS) has been discussed more or less intensively as a technology that might make a significant contribution to achieving a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. CSS involves the capture of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fired power plants or industrial sources and the underground storage of carbon dioxide, for example in deep saline aquifers.

Expectations for the global use of the technology were high, but currently only two large power plants are producing a total of 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Several reasons have been identified for this imbalance between expected and realised use. Using bibliographic analyses, Dr. Peter Viebahn, Co-Director of the Future Energy and Mobility Structures Division at the Wuppertal Institute, and Emile J. L. Chappin, Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, examine whether current research in the field of CCS is ready to meet these challenges. Their analysis "Scrutinising the Gap between the Expected and Actual Deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage – A Bibliometric Analysis" shows that technical research dominates (69 per cent). Only 31 per cent of the contributions deal with non-technical issues. The focus here is particularly on research into public perception, politics and regulation with a broader perspective on the implementation of CCS at regional or national level.

Therefore, research is progressing and trying to solve the problems outlined, which are mainly non-technology-related. However, in order to strengthen this research, the proportion of work that pursues a holistic approach might also be increased in order to meet the challenges of transforming a complex energy system. "Furthermore, it may be useful to involve a variety of stakeholders in the research in order to enable a more robust development of CCS deployment strategies," says Peter Viebahn.

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