Modeling Ecological Constraints on a CO₂ Pipeline Network

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Mitigation
• Infrastructure Planning

Background:

• Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) are vital for decarbonization.
• Pipeline infrastructure for CCUS can cause significant environmental and social disruption if not strategically planned.
• Existing models primarily focus on cost minimization, neglecting environmental and social factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of environmental and social considerations on optimal CO2 pipeline routing and sink locations.
• To expand an existing CCUS infrastructure model to incorporate multiobjective optimization, including environmental protection.
• To evaluate trade-offs between private costs and environmental/social impacts in CCUS infrastructure development.

Main Methods:

• Modified and leveraged the open-source CCUS infrastructure model, SimCCS.
• Expanded SimCCS from a cost-minimizing to a multiobjective framework.
• Modeled seven scenarios with varying weights for environmental impacts in the southeastern United States.

Main Results:

• Optimal CO2 pipeline routing is highly sensitive to environmental and social impact considerations.
• A small increase in pipeline length and associated cost can lead to substantial avoidance of environmental and social damages.
• The multiobjective optimization framework revealed significant trade-offs between economic costs and ecological/social benefits.

Conclusions:

• Integrating environmental and social objectives into CCUS infrastructure planning is crucial for sustainable decarbonization.
• The developed multiobjective tool can inform and improve pipeline permitting and siting processes.
• Strategic routing can achieve climate goals while minimizing negative environmental and social consequences.