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The opinions on the complete, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the new development concept and the work of carbon peak and carbon neutrality issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and the "carbon peak action plan by 2030" issued by the State Council emphasize the importance of the development of CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) to China's emission reduction. In August 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 10 departments jointly issued the "Green and Low-Carbon Advanced Technology Demonstration Project Implementation Plan", proposing full-process large-scale CCUS demonstration, carbon dioxide advanced and efficient capture demonstration, carbon dioxide resource utilization and carbon sequestration demonstration Three key directions. Decarbonization with CCUS technology is also part of our country and many countries around the world to fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement on Nationalized Contributions (NDCs).

Fully understand the best path to ensure energy security and decarbonization of the energy and chemical industry

In the human carbon reduction toolbox, only the forest carbon sink and CCUS as the core of the carbon removal technology can remove the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. From the perspective of the scientific path of the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide can return to the deep underground and achieve permanent isolation from the atmosphere in order to truly reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Therefore, the permanent geological sequestration of carbon dioxide and forest carbon sequestration achieved by CCUS are equivalent products, and CCUS can achieve emission reduction more quickly and on a large scale than forest carbon sequestration. CCUS has great advantages in areas where forest carbon sequestration is difficult to develop, such as arid western China and deserts in the Middle East. At the same time, forest carbon sinks are vulnerable to fires and pests caused by climate change and other impacts, resulting in the loss of carbon sink capacity, resulting in the loss of carbon sinks purchased by enterprises to offset their emissions, resulting in "green" behavior. Permanent geological storage of carbon dioxide can achieve a more stable and long-term carbon sink, and become the new favorite of many emission enterprises in developed countries to buy or invest in companies. For example, Amazon, Microsoft and European Airbus have purchased carbon credits realized by Western Oil Company (Occidental) through direct air capture of carbon dioxide and geological storage. Global asset management giant BlackRock (BlackRock) has also invested US $0.55 billion under its management into Western Oil Company's Stratos air capture and geological storage project, which is precisely the determination that the carbon credits generated by carbon storage can bring benefits to the customers under its management.

Renewable energy is mainly photovoltaic, wind power, as well as energy storage and hydrogen energy to solve its intermittent problems. CCS (carbon capture and storage)/CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) technology is mainly used to solve the problem of coal power and hot spot cogeneration, gas power, petrochemical and other tail gas decarbonization, as well as coupling CCS of low-carbon natural gas, oil (carbon dioxide flooding) and so on.

Renewable energy and CCS technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages, and these two types of technologies play different roles in different regions. For example, in cold regions and extreme cold weather, fossil energy coupled with CCS can achieve net zero emissions under the condition of ensuring energy security supply. Sedimentary basin areas such as coal, oil and gas production areas are more suitable for CCS. From the perspective of North America, people in fossil energy producing areas are more supportive of the deployment of CCS. Saskatchewan, Canada, has always had the highest public support for CCS in the world, which is also a favorable condition for the deployment of CCS projects.

The high cost of CCS/CCUS technology constrains deployment for more enterprises. On the one hand, government subsidies for the deployment of renewable energy have played a great role in promoting, and CCS has so far no government subsidies or incentives. At present, if only coal power plants, petrochemical and other enterprises that directly emit carbon emission are allowed to bear the cost, it is unfair not to see the benefits of their product industry chain and related enterprises. The CCUS carbon emission reduction cost calculated in this way is naturally relatively high. On the other hand, if renewable energy is coupled with energy storage and hydrogen energy to solve its stability and power supply sustainability problems, there is no cost advantage. Hydrogen production from renewable energy sources that generate electricity for 3-4 hours a day still requires 20-21 hours of coal power coupled with CCS to produce green hydrogen, and the price of green hydrogen is not dominant.

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