Plenary Talk: Process Systems Engineering for Optimal Deployment of Negative Emissions Technologies

Recent projections made in 2018 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must taper off to zero by mid-century in order to ensure that mean atmospheric temperature rise is kept to a manageable level of about 1.5°C by 2100. Given this projection, carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal or negative emissions technologies (CDR/NETs) will be needed to offset growing GHG emissions from human activities, which are driven by economic and demographic growth trends. CDR/NETs extract CO₂ from the atmosphere and sequester the carbon through various mechanisms. Examples of CDR/NETs include so-called “natural climate solutions” such as reforestation and soil carbon management, as well as novel techniques that include direct air capture (DAC), bioenergy with CO₂ capture and storage (BECCS), biochar application, indirect ocean capture (IOC), and enhanced weathering. Process systems engineering (PSE) methodologies will be essential to support decision-makers in the planning and design of CDR/NET systems as they are scaled up to significant levels in the coming two decades. In this talk, we discuss some recent PSE work on the use of mathematical programming, pinch analysis, and process graphs for optimizing CDR/NET systems based on BECCS, biochar application, IOC and enhanced weathering.