۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Evaluation framework

۳٫ Evaluation results and discussion

۴٫ Conclusions

References

Abstract

China has emerged as a world leader in the coal chemical industry, which requires large amount of water and results in considerable CO2 emissions. This situation has led to the challenge of the CO2-Water nexus for China and particularly for the sustainable development of its coal chemical industry. CO2-enhanced water recovery (CO2-EWR) technology can provide large-scale CO2 mitigation and additional water supply in an integrated manner, especially in arid areas. Meanwhile, CO2 streams from industrial separation processes in the coal chemical industries are amenable to separation and can dramatically simplify or even dispense with the capture process. This study presents the first systematic assessment of a cost curve for onshore CO2-EWR potential using CO2 streams from industrial separation processes by an evaluation framework encompassing CO2 emission inventory, site suitability evaluation, and source–sink matching with techno-economic models. Preliminary results focused on the full capacity of several coal chemical processes as of 2015 suggest that CO2-EWR technology can mitigate 269 million tons of CO2 from industrial separation processes at relatively low cost ranging from 12 to 30 USD/t CO2 in China. Furthermore, 404 million tons of underground water could be produced for further desalination and utilization. When additional capacity under development could become fully operational, the emissions of 878 million tons of CO2 could be mitigated and provide 1318 million tons of vital water resources. Therefore, CO2-EWR technology can be essential to clean and sustainable development of the coal chemical industry and may provide low-cost opportunities to accelerate the deployment of large-scale CCUS projects in China.

Introduction

China’s abundant coal reserves and urgent concerns about energy security and economic development have driven local governments in coal-rich regions to invest in coal chemical technology. China has emerged as a world leader in the coal chemical and coal conversion industry. However, the environmental impact resulting in huge CO2 emissions and water consumption caused by this dramatic development of the coal chemical industry are concerns for stakeholders, such as governments, investors, enterprises, and the public in China. Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is an essential component to reduce CO2 emissions and produce value-added products on a meaningful scale. Among these options of CCUS technologies, CO2 capture and CO2 aquifer storage with CO2-enhanced water recovery (CO2-storage/CO2-EWR, abbreviated as CO2-EWR) are considered an effective approach to large-scale CO2 mitigation and water production with relatively high technology readiness levels and low cost, especially in arid regions with high water stress and high water price (Davidson et al., 2009; Davies et al., 2013; Kobos et al., 2011; Ziemkiewicz et al., 2015).

China’s abundant coal reserves and urgent concerns about energy security and economic development have driven local governments in coal-rich regions to invest in coal chemical technology. China has emerged as a world leader in the coal chemical and coal conversion industry. However, the environmental impact resulting in huge CO2 emissions and water consumption caused by this dramatic development of the coal chemical industry are concerns for stakeholders, such as governments, investors, enterprises, and the public in China. Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is an essential component to reduce CO2 emissions and produce value-added products on a meaningful scale. Among these options of CCUS technologies, CO2 capture and CO2 aquifer storage with CO2-enhanced water recovery (CO2-storage/CO2-EWR, abbreviated as CO2-EWR) are considered an effective approach to large-scale CO2 mitigation and water production with relatively high technology readiness levels and low cost, especially in arid regions with high water stress and high water price (Davidson et al., 2009; Davies et al., 2013; Kobos et al., 2011; Ziemkiewicz et al., 2015). pressure) (Feng et al., 2013; Meng et al., 2007; Zhao and Gallagher, 2007). This results in large quantities of high purity CO2 streams available from the coal chemical industry, and when combined with CO2-EWR offers an opportunity to address the energy-water-climate and economic challenges facing the coal chemical industry, large-scale deployment of CCUS technologies, and China’s low-carbon future (ADB, 2015; Zhang et al., 2013).