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Trade-offs between Sustainable Development Goals in carbon capture and utilisation
Iasonas Ioannou1, Ángel Galán-Martín2,3, Javier Pérez-Ramírez1
1Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zürich Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1 8093 Zürich Switzerland jpr@chem.ethz.ch gonzalo.guillen.gosalbez@chem.ethz.ch.
Energy & Environmental Science
|February 6, 2023
Summary
Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) can convert emissions into chemicals but may harm sustainable development. Integrating fossil fuels, CCU, and renewable power with sustainability goals is key for a low-carbon future.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Sustainable Development Studies
Background:
- Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) offers a route to convert CO2 emissions into valuable products.
- Current assessments of CCU's sustainability are limited by a narrow focus on carbon footprints and lack absolute thresholds.
- The energy demands of CO2 activation raise concerns about CCU's broader implications for sustainable development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a comprehensive power-chemicals nexus model for assessing the sustainable production of 22 net-zero bulk chemicals.
- To integrate fossil fuel, CCU, and power generation technologies in future sustainability assessments.
- To evaluate the environmental performance of these integrated technologies against Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and planetary boundaries (PBs).
Main Methods:
- Developed a power-chemicals nexus model for integrated technology assessment.
- Evaluated environmental performance using 16 life cycle assessment (LCA) metrics.
- Assessed impacts on 5 SDGs and 9 PBs to quantify and interpret sustainability.
- Incorporated optimization models with SDG-based criteria for technology integration.
Main Results:
- Fossil fuel-based chemical production negatively impacts SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
- CCU technologies can contribute to achieving SDG 13 but may cause burden-shifting impacts on human health, water scarcity, and mineral/metal depletion.
- The study identified potential trade-offs and negative externalities associated with both fossil and CCU routes.
Conclusions:
- A holistic approach integrating fossil, CCU, and power technologies is necessary for sustainable chemical production.
- Combining fossil and CCU routes with carbon-negative power sources, guided by SDG-based optimization, can mitigate negative impacts.
- Embracing SDGs in technology development is crucial for a sensible transition to low-carbon energy and chemical industries.
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