Japan and South Korea, for instance, are bankrolling CCS-linked hydrogen and ammonia ventures across Asia, even as renewables become cheaper and more efficient. Australia and Indonesia are positioning themselves as regional CO2 storage hubs, while Malaysia and Thailand have amended laws to attract CCS investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the International Energy Agency\u2019s Global Hydrogen Review 2024 report,\u00a0in 2023, global hydrogen production emitted 920 tonnes of CO2. For hydrogen from steam methane reforming (natural gas), abatement costs are estimated at around $60-85 per tonne CO2 for capture rates of 55-70 per cent, and $85-110 per tonne CO2 for rates above 90 per cent. However, carbon capture alone is not sufficient; upstream and midstream emissions must also be tackled.<\/p>\n
Locked into the wrong future<\/p>\n
The report estimates that if Asia follows a \u201chigh-CCS\u201d trajectory with poor performance, it could add emissions equivalent to the lifetime CO2 output of South Korea and Australia combined. Even if CCS deployment fails to scale, the region risks wasting billions and delaying investment in renewable power, batteries and electrification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a climate risk \u2014 it\u2019s an economic trap,\u201d warned Michiel Schaeffer, chief scientist at Climate Analytics. \u201cAsian economies could lose competitiveness to countries betting on cheaper, proven renewable technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
CCS also threatens to crowd out carbon removal efforts and strain geological storage capacity. \u201cEvery tonne of CO2 pumped underground for fossil fuels is one less tonne that could be used for genuine carbon removal,\u201d said Schaeffer.<\/p>\n
Cheaper, cleaner, faster alternatives<\/p>\n
The report underscored that Asia\u2019s energy transition doesn\u2019t need to rely on CCS. Renewables already outcompete fossil fuels across most of the continent. Solar power in India, China and Vietnam costs up to half as much as new coal or gas plants. Battery prices have plunged nearly 70 per cent in four years, making firmed renewable power increasingly viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsia\u2019s cheapest, safest and fastest route to net zero is a low-CCS pathway,\u201d said Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics. \u201cThat means massive renewable buildout, rapid electrification, and phasing out fossil fuels \u2014 not capturing carbon just to burn more of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japan and South Korea, for instance, are bankrolling CCS-linked hydrogen and ammonia ventures across Asia, even as renewables…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[337,13480,44849,4186,27586,242,85,46,141],"class_list":{"0":"post-60708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-carbon-capture","10":"tag-carbon-capture-and-storage","11":"tag-carbon-dioxide","12":"tag-climate-goals","13":"tag-environment","14":"tag-il","15":"tag-israel","16":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}