Carbon capture, utilization and storage or in short,
CCUS will be a crucial component in enabling the Middle East to clean up
hard-to-abate sectors, export low cost, low carbon
intensity products and services, and achieve a net zero future.
Energy security is key today for both the Middle East and the world,
especially as we look towards
low carbon energy and the battle against climate change.
In that, a vital role exists for carbon capture, utilization and storage
or CCUS, and the Middle East is expertly positioned
to be a global leader in this key mitigation technology.
According to the IEA and the IPCC,
we need to remove around one gigaton of CO2 from the atmosphere per year
by 2030 in order to keep the 1.5 degree Paris Agreement goal within reach.
However, currently we only have
45 million tonnes of operational CCUS capacity globally.
This really needs to be accelerated.
Great points, Ali,
and what we see is that to accelerate this deployment,
we need value chain collaboration from financing to the developers.
Developing shared infrastructure, otherwise known as CCUS Hubs
which can allow multiple emitters to use the same networks,
can really reduce the carbon abatement cost throughout
the sector to less than $100 per metric tonne,
in many of the CCUS Hubs that we've modeled here in the region.
Hubs, great example.
The Middle East already has experience with this as they account today
for 10% of the global operational CCUS facilities
proving that we already have the capabilities,
the desire and the ability to accelerate the deployment.
We've also identified 18 extra potential hubs
in the GCC and further in the region.
These hubs will be the catalyst for blue ammonia, blue hydrogen
and offering the significant advantage to the first movers,
enabling low carbon exports of these products.
Furthermore, these hubs will help facilitate
the decarbonization of the heavy industries in the region, particularly
the production of chemicals, cement and steel,
and thanks Ali, because it’s these hard-to-abate sectors
and preventing and reducing the emissions from all of their
production processes in a more cost-effective and sustainable manner,
that will become really key for the region's decarbonization potential.
CCUS is critical across these sectors and future proofing
these hard-to-abate sectors and their right to continue to operate.
Through a combination of incentives, policy, research and development,
this industry collaboration will achieve the required tangible results.
Through deployment,
cost potential and an expected reduction in CapEx,
technology improvements can only be achieved as this deployment grows.
Investing in carbon capture technologies
and across the value chain today will be both beneficial
and prove feasible for the region in achieving its net zero goals.
In the energy landscape,
the Middle East has the chance to redefine its role by scaling carbon capture technology,
showcasing its commitment to a sustainable future,
and setting an example for other regions to follow.