Design Insights for Industrial CO₂ Capture, Transport, and Storage Systems

We present methods and insights for the design of CO₂ capture, transport, and storage systems for industrial facilities with a case study focus on Louisiana. Our analytical framework includes (1) evaluating the scale and concentration of capturable CO₂ emissions at individual facilities for the purpose of estimating the cost of CO₂ capture retrofits that utilize various energy supply sources to meet parasitic demands; (2) screening to identify potential CO₂ storage sites and estimate their capacities, injectivities, and costs; and (3) designing cost-minimized trucking or pipeline infrastructure connecting CO₂ capture plants with storage sites, considering existing land uses, demographics, and a variety of social and environmental justice factors. Estimated levelized costs of capture at Louisiana’s 190 industrial facilities range from below $50/tCO₂ to above $500/tCO₂, depending on facility-specific features. We identified 98 potential storage sites with storage costs ranging from $8 to $17/tCO₂. We find that in most situations, pipelines are the least-costly mode of CO₂ transport. When industrial facilities in a region share pipelines, aggregate pipeline mileage and average transport costs are dramatically lower than without sharing. Shared pipeline networks designed to avoid disadvantaged communities require right-of-way areas compared to those for networks that transect such communities, but result in 25% higher average per-tonne transport cost.