CCS Redux: Capturing CO2 From Exhaust Pipes Is A Dangerous Concept That Gained’t Die

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Carbon seize and sequestration in all of its varied ineffective, inefficient and costly kinds is having one other run up the hype cycle. Nothing has actually modified. The issues nonetheless exist. The alternate options are nonetheless higher. The potential to be used continues to be minuscule. And so, the CCS Redux collection, republishing previous CCS articles with minor edits.

So right here’s an concept. A whole lot of CO2 comes from automobiles and lightweight vehicles, proper? So why don’t we simply seize it within the automobile itself? 

I’m certain a bunch of individuals have had that concept. After which, after about 10 seconds of thought they realized how daft it was and moved on. However there’s one firm that basically likes the concept and has constructed a number of working prototypes. Which one? Saudi Aramco. In case you haven’t heard of it, it most likely received’t shock you to listen to that it’s the most important oil and fuel firm on the earth, and wholly owned by the Saudi authorities.

Sure, it retains trotting out variants on its know-how and credulous individuals hold reporting on it as if it’s a severe factor. Saudi Aramco constructed a Toyota Camry sedan prototype that had many of the trunk and rear seats taken up with an onboard carbon seize and compression unit.

Wait, are individuals actually that gullible? Sure, after all. Right here’s a short sampling of press items.

I may go on, however you get the concept. Saudi Aramco is filled with STEM varieties and I’m certain that they notice it’s truly nonsense, however they hold trotting their prototypes out to conferences and journalists, and other people hold reporting on it as if it’s an actual factor.

Within the curiosity of a minimum of publishing a stake for this vampire concept, if not truly driving the stake into its festering coronary heart, I labored up the fundamentals of what a system like this could entail, what it might imply and what the prices could be.

As all the time, I began with knowledge:

• EIA: About 19.6 kilos of CO2 are produced from burning a gallon of gasoline that doesn’t comprise gasoline ethanol.
• Garber: a gallon of gasoline weighs 6.2 lbs
• FHWA: The typical American drives 13,476 miles in a yr, 37 miles a day or 259 miles per week
• Motortrend: the US automobile and truck fleet averaged 24.7 mpg in complete in 2016
• UWaterloo: it’s typical to compress CO2 to above 7.38 MPa for environment friendly transport; compression usually happens in a variety of steps or levels; there are 4 or 5 levels of compression; there’s a appreciable rise within the fuel temperature throughout every stage; CO2 compression effectivity is about 80%. For instance, the power required for compressing CO2 to 7.38 MPa could be about 60 kWh per tonne of CO2

Attention-grabbing numbers, and the primary two factors make it clear the place that is going, however let’s go there anyway.

The typical American drives 37 miles in a day of their 24.7 mpg automobile. Besides their automobile received’t be averaging 24.7 mpg as a result of it should have one other individual’s weight at minimal of additional CO2 compression and storage tools in it. Let’s spherical it all the way down to 24 mpg.

They burn about 37/24= 1.5 gallons of fuel in a day. Their automobile will get 6.2*1.5=9.3 lb lighter due to burning the gasoline, however then will get 19.6*1.5=29.4 kilos heavier for a internet achieve of 29.4-9.3=20.1 lb in weight. In per week, as a result of they aren’t going to be dropping the CO2 off each day, that turns into 140.7 lb, one other human physique and one other drop in fuel mileage. And naturally for a yr, that’s 7316.4 lb.

However let’s faux we’re going to go to 7.38 MPA compression in 4 stage compression, in any other case there could be an enormous balloon of CO2 floating behind the automobile. Over the week, they will be compressing 140.7/2000=0.07 tons of CO2 which would require 60*0.07=4.2 kWh of electrical energy. The place will that electrical energy come from? From the gasoline engine, appearing as a generator. 746 Watts = 1 hp. In order that they’ll be turning just a few p.c of their burnt gasoline into CO2 compression as an alternative of ahead motion. We will most likely add 5% to 10% to every thing on this for that issue alone.

The online is that the common US driver will find yourself with a useless physique’s value of CO2 of their automobile each week that they should eliminate someway.

Precisely the place will they eliminate this useless physique of CO2? Let’s think about that fuel stations select to just accept CO2. There actually isn’t one other distribution selection that any driver would think about. The fuel station must have a CO2 compressor of their very own and the common value of a 3,000 hp CO2 compressor is $4.47 million. Yeah, that’s going to make them pleased.

After which there’s the massive honking tank or tanks they’ll want to put in. Assuming {that a} single fuel station sells 4,000 gallons of fuel a day, they’ll want storage for the ensuing CO2, and which means they’ll want to have the ability to compress and retailer 4,000*19.6=78,400 lb of CO2 a day or 548,800 per week. That’s 39.2 tons per day and 274.4 tons per week. Meaning they will suck again an additional 39.2*60=2,352 kWh of electrical energy each day or 16,464 weekly. At a mean US industrial electrical energy value of 10.74 cents per kWh, that’s an additional value of two,352*10.74=$252.60 of value per day or $1,768.23 per week.

Additionally, goodbye parking spots. And possibly the carwash too. Do you know that the common fuel stations makes about $200 in revenue promoting fuel per day? That’s why the comfort retailer and automobile washes are so necessary. And why they’ve automated pumps.

Oh, however they’ll make it up by promoting the CO2, received’t they?

No. Whereas CO2 has a market worth of about $30 per ton, that’s unique of distribution. Tanker vehicles have a most load of 80,000 lb. As there are 548,800 lb of CO2 to take care of, which means seven vehicles per week can be coming only for the CO2. It prices about 15.6 cents USD per ton-mile to ship by truck within the USA. Assuming the CO2 is delivered 50 miles away to a group middle, that’s one other value of $2,140.32 per week that must be scrounged up someplace. Besides the vehicles require refrigeration and compression items of their very own, so it is going to be larger.

Oh wait, the common freight truck within the US emits 161.8 grams of CO2 per ton-mile! Meaning simply transporting the tons of CO2 will trigger emission of one other couple of tons of CO2. Yup, that is making much less and fewer sense the extra we poke at it.

2024 replace: The most recent mode of transportation to be exploring this useless finish is maritime transport. As I identified elsewhere not too long ago, if 100% of the CO2 from a ship’s exhaust had been captured and saved on board for later decanting, it might be 2.7 instances the mass and take up 2.5 instances the area because the gasoline burned. And that’s as liquified CO2 at further energetic expense. Additional, liquid CO2, if the tank had been to rupture, would simply fill the ship’s cabins and areas with dense, asphyxiating gaseous carbon dioxide, so it might symbolize a further security hazard to handle. The trade is so severe about this, the truth is, that they’re paying the World Heart for Maritime Decarbonization in Singapore thousands and thousands of {dollars} to run a pilot on it.

What doable motive may Saudi Aramco have for selling this clearly nonsensical concept? And why would individuals fall for it so simply, even Phds with an power background? (Assume I’m joking? Take a look at that first article within the checklist.)

Properly, the primary one is that previous backside line of Aramco’s — $455 billion of annual income permits for lots of fig leafs and greenwashing workout routines. This offers the complete automotive trade and associated fossil-fuel pursuits one thing to level to that means inside combustion autos have an prolonged shelf-life within the age of speedy electrification of transportation.

As for why individuals fall for it, there are the standard causes. A few of it’s venality. Some is an absence of any means to undertaking out prices and do evaluation. A few of it’s a lack of primary STEM abilities. And a few of it’s simply that Aramco’s PR division feeds press releases to media and pleasant analysts which are hungry for eyeballs and so they eat it up.