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Summary: The role of negative emissions technologies (NETs) in climate change mitigation remains contentious. Although numerous studies indicate significant carbon dioxide removal (CDR) requirements for Paris Agreement mitigation goals to be achieved, others point out challenges and risks associated with high CDR strategies. Using a multiscale modeling approach, we explore NETs’ potential for a single country, the United Kingdom (UK). Here, we report that the UK has cost-effective potential to remove 79 MtCO2 per year by 2050, rising to 126–134 MtCO2 per year with well-integrated NETs in industrial clusters. Results highlight that biomass gasification for hydrogen generation with CCS is emerging as a key NET, despite biomass availability being a limiting factor. Moreover, solid DACCS systems utilizing industrial waste heat integration offer a solution to offsetting increases in demand from transportation and industrial sectors. These results emphasize the importance of a multiscale whole-systems assessment for integrating NETs into industrial strategies. Science for society: Understanding how to effectively mitigate climate change is crucial for the well-being of our planet and future generations. Negative emissions technologies (NETs) that take CO2 out of the air are a vital component in this effort, but their effectiveness is still being debated. Our study examines NETs’ potential in the UK, providing valuable insights for policymakers, industry leaders, and the public. We find that the UK could remove up to 126–134 million tonnes by 2050 if NETs are well integrated into industrial clusters where there is high waste heat potential. Key technologies include biomass gasification for hydrogen generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) systems using industrial waste heat. These findings highlight the importance of integrating NETs into industrial strategies to meet climate goals effectively while addressing the increasing demand in the transportation and industrial sectors.

Summary: Despite increased commitments toward net zero, there will likely be a continued need for natural gas to provide low carbon dispatchable power and blue hydrogen to balance the increased penetration of renewables. We evaluate the CO2 emissions intensity of electricity produced by (i) natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS), and (ii) blue hydrogen CCGT plants which uses steam methane reforming with CCS to supply H2. This study aims to determine whether these assets are able to meet a possible green taxonomy emissions threshold of 100 kg CO2 eq/MWh. Key considerations include methane leakage, CO2 capture rate, and the impacts of start-up and shut down cycles performed by the CCGT-CCS plant. This study suggests that, in order for natural gas to play an enduring role in the transition toward net zero, managing GHG emissions from both the upstream natural gas supply chain and the conversion facility is key.

The urgency to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050, as first presented by the IPCC special report on 1.5 °C Global Warming, has spurred renewed interest in hydrogen, to complement electrification, for widespread decarbonization of the economy. We present reflections on estimates of future hydrogen demand, optimization of infrastructure for hydrogen production, transport and storage, development of viable business cases, and environmental impact evaluations using life cycle assessments. We highlight challenges and opportunities that are common across studies of the business cases for hydrogen in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Norway. The use of hydrogen in the industrial sector is an important driver and could incentivise large-scale hydrogen value chains. In the long-term hydrogen becomes important also for the transport sector. Hydrogen production from natural gas with capture and permanent storage of the produced CO2 (CCS) enables large-scale hydrogen production in the intermediate future and is complementary to hydrogen from renewable power. Furthermore, timely establishment of hydrogen and CO2 infrastructures serves as an anchor to support the deployment of carbon dioxide removal technologies, such as direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) and biohydrogen production with CCS. Significant public support is needed to ensure coordinated planning, governance, and the establishment of supportive regulatory frameworks which foster the growth of hydrogen markets.

Summary: Policy led decisions aiming at decarbonizing the economy may well exacerbate existing regional economic imbalances. These effects are seldom recognized in spatially aggregated, top-down, and techno-economic decarbonization strategies. Here, we present a spatial economic framework that quantifies the gross value added associated with low carbon hydrogen investments while accounting for region-specific factors, such as the industrial specialization of regions, their relative size, and their economic interdependencies. In our case study, which uses low carbon hydrogen produced via autothermal reforming combined with carbon capture and storage to decarbonize the energy intensive industries in Europe and in the UK, we demonstrate that interregional economic interdependencies drive the overall economic benefits of the decarbonization. Policies intended to concurrently transition to net zero and address existing regional imbalances, as in the case of the UK Industrial Decarbonization Challenge, should take these local factors into account.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have increased the demand for both energy and mobility services across the globe, with accompanying increases in greenhouse gas emissions. This short paper analyzes strategic measures for the abatement of CO2 emissions from oil refinery operations. A case study involving a large conversion refinery shows that the use of post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) may only be practical for large combined emission point sources, leaving about 30% of site-wide emissions unaddressed. A combination of post-combustion CCS with a CO2 capture rate well above 90% and other mitigation measures such as fuel substitution and emission offsets is needed to transition towards carbon-neutral refinery operations. All of these technologies must be configured to minimize environmental burden shifting and scope 2 emissions, whilst doing so cost-effectively to improve energy access and affordability. In the long run, scope 3 emissions from the combustion of refinery products and flaring must also be addressed. The use of synthetic fuels and alternative feedstocks such as liquefied plastic waste, instead of crude oil, could present a growth opportunity in a circular carbon economy.