Researchers associated with the Sustainable Energy Engineering and Policy programme at Carleton University have published a new article in the journal Environmental Research Letters, exploring the opportunities and challenges facing large-scale expansion of direct air capture (DAC) and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). The paper summarizes results of a structured, invitational, expert workshop conducted by the research team in Ottawa, Canada in May, 2023. Although the focus of the workshop was mainly on Canada, strategies for expanding the deployment of these technologies worldwide were also discussed.
The workshop invited 34 prominent stakeholders, “including scientists, engineers, energy system analysts, economists, experts in public policy, and policy makers.” Discussions addressed the likely cost and performance of DAC and CCUS in the near and medium terms. However, they focused on the risks facing deployment, and how nations, including Canada, might build the necessary scaffolding for DAC and CCUS expansion. The research notes that “financial and regulatory risks are seen as greater barriers to deployment at scale than technological risk,” emphasizing the importance of inter-disciplinary efforts to mitigate risks. As for recommendations, participants stressed the importance of “greater certainty regarding carbon pricing, production tax credits, and support for geological characterization and trunkline construction.” Regardless, without “a large-scale increase in low-carbon power production; the implementation of regulatory frameworks that remove uncertainty surrounding investment decisions; and prudent societal engagement,” participants felt that expanding carbon dioxide removal technologies would be very difficult.