Top questions about CCS

Shell has a target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. Becoming a net-zero emissions energy business is a huge task. The business plans we have today will not get us there. So, our plans must change.

That is one of the many reasons why we are actively growing our portfolio of low-carbon energy solutions and continue to invest in a wide range of renewables energies such as wind and solar, new mobility options such as electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling, and an interconnected power business that will provide electricity to millions of homes, companies and businesses. Find out more about our renewables and energy solutions business.

But there is no one step to achieving net-zero emissions. Most climate scientists are clear that using CCS technology to reduce emissions plays an important role in the transition of the energy system. Beyond reducing emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5°C scenarios¹ show that even when the energy system reaches net-zero emissions, there will be residual emissions because some sectors and end users will not be able to eliminate the use of hydrocarbons. Consequently, CO₂ that is already in the atmosphere will need to be removed. Carbon capture and storage has a role to play in both reducing emissions and removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

No. CCS is essential for the world reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement – and for Shell to reach its climate target.

CCS will be a critical tool in helping address hard-to-abate emissions from Shell’s own operations, such as refineries and chemical complexes, as well as our customers’ emissions. Our ambition is to have access to an additional 25 million tonnes a year of carbon, capture and storage capacity by 2035.

To reach our net-zero emissions target, we also want to be a partner for change, working with our customers to help them address their greenhouse gas emissions. CCS can play an important role in that too, helping to decarbonise heavy industries like steel, cement, glass, and chemicals manufacturing. Enabling decarbonisation in these industries can also support their growth and the jobs they provide, even as the world moves towards net zero.

Action on CCS must be part of package of solutions that will together help the world to reach net-zero emissions. It will require extensive collaboration between governments, shareholders and investors, NGOs, heavy industry and companies skilled in CCS, to help unlock financing capacity, accelerate technological development, and encourage public support for an industry that can be ready to store CO₂ at scale, and help us reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The scale of everything associated with the global energy transition is enormous. And the implications of not addressing climate change represent a cost that all nations have agreed is too enormous to bear.

CCS can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from power plants and other major industrial processes such as refining, petrochemicals and steelmaking. But cost and technological hurdles have hindered the pace of deployment. However, this is changing as government led carbon pricing mechanisms impose a cost on emitting CO₂. The cost of CCS relative to the cost of emitting CO₂ is also decreasing as we move towards developing CCS within industrial hubs which provide economies of scale. Furthermore, as more projects are completed, we gain knowledge that helps reduce costs even more.

For example, the cost to operate the Quest CCS facility in Alberta, Canada, is about 35% lower than what was forecast in 2015, and, if Quest were to be built today, it would cost about 30% less thanks to potential front-end engineering savings and capital efficiency improvements.

Accelerating the pace of CCS deployment requires continued collaboration between governments, industry and investors, among others, to help unlock financing capacity, accelerate technology development and generate markets for lower carbon products. We recognise the scale of the challenge in developing CCS globally as quickly and as widely as needed, but we also agree with the UK’s Climate Change Committee that CCS is a “necessity, not an option”⁴ and so this is a challenge that we are working hard to address.