CCUS + CBG = Carbon capture + biofuels = net negative carbon footprint?
Read about a partnership between Carbon Clean and Veolia in India for CBG ( https://bit.ly/3rVFD8X ).
So what’s my fancy notion of carbon negative thing all about? It’s like this: You get biogas via anaerobic digestion when you use biowaste such as food waste or agri-waste in biodigesters. When you separate the CO2 in biogas (about 55% by wt.), you get methane, which in India is called CBG (compressed biogas). The Indian govt. has set high targets for CBG to replace natural gas.
But what happens to the CO2 that is separated from biogas? Usually it is let off into atmosphere. The CC-Veolia partnership plans to capture the CO2 for sequestration.
Such a project could actually be net carbon negative. How? Use of biomass to make fuels is considered net zero carbon as the carbon let out during fuel use is the carbon that was originally captured by biomass during growth. But if you actually sequester part of that carbon, you’re net-net sucking out some CO2 from the atmosphere for every Kg of fuel made. The math might be a bit more intricate if you compare entire CBG & natural gas value chains, but there’s potential for negative carbon.
Thoughts?
See my LinkedIn post on this topic