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This chapter investigates the trends in international and European legal and policy regulation of the process related to carbon capture and storage (CCS). The global endeavor that seeks to limit carbon dioxide emissions has come to recognize CCS as an indispensable ally. This chapter offers an up-to-date and comprehensive commentary to the relatively new and developing area of international regulation of the process of CCS, a dimension that might yield significant effects on the environment and, overall, sustainable development. It reveals a constantly growing trend of an enhanced awareness about the indispensable role and effects of the CCS on wider climate aspirations and, to that effect, also a need for a stable and effective international regulatory framework. The key barriers that are preventing the wider implementation of CCS projects, however, relate primarily to two extra-regulatory processes, which is the policy uncertainty at national levels and financial shortcomings. This background presents a window of opportunity for entrepreneurship and policy invention.

Production-related industrial zones, super structures and infrastructures are constructed by the construction industry. Nearly all industries and their environmental emissions are influenced by the construction industry including its sub-industries, companies and their supply chains. Furthermore, cities play an important role in economic growth. Cities are hubs for productivity, production, supply and demand, and innovation with the help of their human capital and built environment (e.g. offices, factories, industrial zones, infrastructures, etc.).

Industrial growth fosters urbanisation which is vital for the supply side in the economy to reach to the human resources. Urbanisation which supports industrial growth obstacles industries’ efficiency due to urbanisation problems (e.g. traffic, air and water pollution, health problems).

Construction industry and its sub-industries affect total factor productivity growth in nearly all industries. Construction industry can be a facilitator industry for economic growth and industrial growth considering total factor productivity growth and environment aspects. All industries’ green and sustainable total factor productivity growth can be supported by rethinking construction industry, its sub-industries and their outputs (e.g. construction materials, built environment, cities) as well as construction project management processes.

This chapter aims to introduce carbon capturing smart construction industry model to foster green and sustainable total factor productivity growth of industries. This chapter emphasises current and potential roles of construction industry, its sub-industries and their outputs in fostering other industries’ growth through green and sustainable total factor productivity growth. It focusses on carbon capturing technologies and design at different levels. Furthermore, this chapter emphasises cities’ role in green and sustainable total factor productivity growth. This chapter provides recommendations for construction industry policies and carbon capturing cities/built environment model to solve urbanisation problems and to foster industrial growth and green and sustainable total factor productivity growth. This chapter is expected to be useful to all stakeholders of the construction industry, policy makers, and researchers in the relevant field.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have consistently ranked high in per capita carbon emissions, not to mention the fact that a lifestyle with a high ecological footprint in a fragile ecosystem can affect the regional environment, prosperity and social stability. The adoption of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the GCC countries has been consistently gaining attention, as it is widely seen as a suitable mitigation measure, particularly in a region where heavy industry and geological exploitation have led to wealth and prosperity. Additionally, making captured CO₂ available for enhanced oil recovery is expected to create significant economic value. However, the lack of a coordinated environmental regulation regime to cap future carbon emissions is posing significant risks for further CCS development. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper reviews the state of play with regard to CCS in the GCC region and investigate the opportunities and challenges facing CCS development in the UAE by use of the interview technique.

This paper finds that the lack of CCS‐related regulations, absence of CCS policy at a national level and limited human capital resources are impeding the development of CCS in the UAE. Findings from this study can offer GCC policy‐makers relevant insights into how best to develop CCS projects for the GCC region.

This is an original research, that has not been conducted before. This is first of a kind assessment for the GCC region.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and characterize a geological storage site at more than 800 m depth that is capable of storing large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the Alberta Basin and is close to a large CO₂ supply.

Five criteria are used to select the site: total volume of the pore space of the formation for CO₂ (i.e. capacity); accessibility of the pore space in the storage site to CO₂ (i.e. permeability or injectivity); ability of the storage site to retain the CO₂ once the CO₂ has been injected (i.e. containment); protection of other resources from contamination; and cost of the whole process: capture of the CO₂, transport and storage (i.e. economics).

The Heartland Redwater Leduc Reef is identified as a site that has large capacity, good injectivity, and is an excellent trap. Contamination of the oil in the oil reservoir at the top of the reef (the third largest oil reservoir in Canada) is avoided by co‐optimizing CO₂ storage and oil production.

The Heartland Redwater Leduc Reef is ideally located at relatively shallow depth (1,000‐1,200 m), has a large amount of residual oil and is close to large CO₂ sources which make it one of the most economically attractive sites in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.

The Heartland Redwater Leduc Reef Saline Aquifer CO₂ Capture and Geological Storage Project (HARP) is investigating the technical and economic feasibility of injecting significant volumes of CO₂ into the large water‐saturated portion of a huge Devonian reef that is capped by a comparatively small oil reservoir, nevertheless the third largest oil pool in Canada. The reef has a total areal extent of nearly 600 km³, is more than 1,000 m deep and is up to 275 m thick. Based on the high‐water injectivity in the reef, the potential exists to inject sustainably in excess of 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ per day per well in the aquifer portion of the reef. Preliminary storage capacity estimates for the aquifer are in the order of one gigatonne of CO₂. The Heartland Redwater Leduc Reef has the combination of a large oil reservoir sitting on top of a much larger local aquifer. This is a unique site for storage in Canada and could be a model for the rest of the world for carbon dioxide capture and storage.

In recognition of the urgency of the global need to reduce CO₂ emissions from the electricity sector, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the cost‐effectiveness of nuclear power and fossil‐fuel‐based power with and without the provision of carbon capture and storage in select, yet environmentally‐significant, group of countries – China, India, Russia, Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Argentina, Bulgaria and Romania.

The analyses are based on comparisons of electricity generation costs for nuclear and fossil‐fuel technologies. These costs, expressed in present value terms, are estimated on the basis of life‐cycle costs, employing detailed country‐specific technological and economic data and assumptions.

The analyses suggest that that the provision of carbon capture and storage is likely to result in a significant increase in the cost of electricity produced from fossil fuels (principally coal) in all countries represented in this paper. Such increase would completely erode the existing cost advantage enjoyed by fossil‐fuel power (in relation to nuclear power) in some countries (Argentina, Bulgaria, China, and India) and considerably enhance the existing cost‐advantage of nuclear power in other countries (Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, and Russia).

Notwithstanding these limitations, the findings of this paper contribute appreciably to the emerging knowledge on this topic and provide useful foresight into the likely challenges of developing internationally acceptable policy prescriptions for mitigation CO₂ emissions from the electricity sector. At a mundane, yet important, level, this paper establishes a platform on which further analyses could be built.

With the threat of climate change increasing, carbon sequestration could be expected to play a significant role in alleviating this problem. Unfortunately, the technology is not well understood and good literature overviews of the options in carbon sequestration are lacking. Hence, policy and research priorities are made without full understanding of the state of scientific knowledge, impacts, and policy trade‐offs. This paper contributes to the literature, providing a basic picture of the technological options for futurists and policy advisors to begin to address this need.

There is an increase in greenhouse gasses and global climate change is frequently reported on. What can be done? Certainly to try and reduce the carbon footprint, which is not a new topic, by encouraging applications and activities for concrete during its lifetime (Portland Cement Association, 2019). This study aims to focus on introducing CO₂ to normal and fly ash concrete and thus investigating the effect on the carbon footprint of the samples and the effectiveness of the CO₂ introduction methods, namely, carbonated water addition during the mixing process and by means of an infusion pipe directly into the concrete when the samples are casted and have been casted.

The feasibility of carbon dioxide storage within concrete is determined by investigating the effects of introduced carbon dioxide into concrete samples and the effectiveness of the concrete at storing carbon dioxide. The concrete was mixed in a 1:3:3 ratio for the OPC or blended 52.5 R cement:sand:stone (22 mm) with a 28 day strength of 50 MPa. Samples were also prepared containing low-grade fly ash cement contents ranging from 15% to 60%. CO₂ was introduced to the concrete via carbonated mixing water and an infusion pipe system directly to the hardening concrete cubes. In total, 16 g CO₂ bicycle carbon dioxide inflators and valve system were used to infuse the concrete over a period of a week until the canister was emptied with valve release on the lowest setting. A compression test was carried out to determine the strength of the concrete cubes with, and without, the introduction of carbon dioxide. Results were also obtained using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) to determine how the carbon dioxide changed the microscopic composition and chemical composition of the concrete. A microcontroller with carbon dioxide sensors was used to gather carbon dioxide emission data for a period of three months.

The compressive strength tests show by introducing carbon dioxide to the concrete, the compressive strength has increased by as much as 13.86% as expected from the literature. Furthermore, by infusing carbon dioxide with the fly ash blended cement, will give a higher strength compared to the control with ordinary portland cement. This correlates to an overall reduction in cost for the structure. The optimal fly ash content for the control with minimal strength degradation is 30%. Where the optimal fly ash content for the concrete with carbon dioxide stored within, is 45%. The SEM analysis showed the concrete with sequestered carbon dioxide has significantly more calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel formation, thus the strength increase. Furthermore, the carbon dioxide emission test showed the concrete with infused carbon dioxide stores carbon dioxide more efficiently compared to the control sample. With the data showing the infused sample releases 11.19% less carbon dioxide compared to the control sample. However, the carbonated water sample releases 20.9% more carbon dioxide when compared to the control sample. Thus the introduction of carbon dioxide by means of infusion is more effective.

This is a practical pilot investigation of carbon dioxide introduction via two methods, one being infusion of CO₂ into normal concrete and fly ash concrete and two, mixing normal and fly ash concrete with carbonated water. These results show, cheaper cement can be used to achieve equivalent or better strength. This can help in the reduction of the construction industry’s carbon footprint.

By reducing the construction industry’s carbon footprint with this research results, a saving can not only be made financially in the construction industry, but this will help to preserve our environment for future generations.

This paper aims to discuss opportunities for pairing the carbon dioxide (CO₂) points of supply from stationary sources such as power plants, steel and cement production, coal to liquid plants and refineries, with potential oil reservoirs in China.

This study builds a linear optimization model to analyze the tradeoffs in developing CO₂-enhance oil recovery (EOR) projects in China for a range of policy options to match points of supply with the points of demand (oil fields). The model works on optimizing CO₂ application costs by meeting four principal components; CO₂ storage, CO₂ capture, transport costs and additional oil recovery.

This study reveals new opportunities and economic sources to feed CO₂-EOR applications and offers reasonable options to supply CO₂ for potential points of demand. Furthermore, power plants and coal to liquid industries had the most significant and economic contributions to potential CO₂-EOR projects in China. Total annual emission reduction is expected to be 10% (based on 10 Gton annual emissions). The emission reductions and potential CO₂ storage from the different industries as follow; 94% from power plants, 4% from biofuel and 2% from coal to liquid plants.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one practice aiming to reduce the amounts of anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere and reduce the related social costs. However, given the relatively high cost associated with this practice, coupling it with EOR could offer a significant financial incentive to facilitate the development of CCS projects and meet climate change objectives.

The model used in this study can be straightforwardly adapted to any geographic location where industry and policymakers are looking to simultaneously reduce CO₂ emissions while increasing hydrocarbon recovery. The model is highly adaptable to local values in the parameters considered and to include additional local considerations such as geographic variation in capture costs, taxes and premiums to be placed on CO₂ capture in so-called “non-attainment zones” where pollution capture make could make a project politically and economically viable. Regardless of how and where this model is applied, it is apparent that CO₂ from industrial sources has substantial potential value as a coproduct that offsets its sequestration costs using existing, commercially available CO₂-EOR technology, once sources and sinks are optimally paired.