Environmental Due Diligence of CO₂ Capture and Utilization Technologies – Framework and application

This article presents an overview of an environmental due diligence framework developed as part of the EDDiCCUT project, and presents analysis and results from the first test case - MEA based CO₂ capture process. The framework draws upon well-established technical, economic and environmental assessment methods and integrates technical performance, uncertainties, cost estimation and life cycle inventory data to ensure consistency and enhance quality. Results show that for the modelled coal power plant of about 800 MW gross power output, the CO₂ capture system lowers the net efficiency by 10.4% efficiency points and results in a 68% increase in the cost of electricity. Environmental performance evaluated on a broad range of 24 impacts and emission categories indicates a 68% reduction in climate change warming potential with 20-90% increase in other impacts. By comparing the quality of the inventory data used for environmental assessment with the state-of-art data in available life cycle assessment literature, it is found that the due diligence analysis brings significant improvement in the quality of data for certain processes in the value chain.