Economic perspectives and policy insights on carbon capture, storage, and utilization for sustainable development

Abstract

Carbon capture storage and utilization (CCSU) has the potential to become a key tool to mitigate climate change, thus, aiding in achieving the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Even though the relevant remediation technology has achieved technical maturity to a certain extent, implementation of CCSU on a larger scale is currently limited because of non-technical parameters that include cost, legalization, lack of storage reservoir, and market mechanism to penalize CO₂ emitter. Among these, cost emerges as the primary barrier to the dissemination of CCSU. Hence, necessary policy frameworks and incentives must be provided by governing agencies to enable faster dissemination of carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) globally. Meanwhile, strict implementation of a carbon tax across nations and market demand for products generated using captured CO₂ can aid in the fast adoption of CCU and CCS. This review assessed the economic feasibility and sustainability of CCS and CCU technologies to identify the barriers to commercializing these technologies.

Keywords: CO(2) capture; CO(2) utilization; Carbon tax; Climate change; Decarbonization.