Assessing the feasibility for large-scale DACCS deployment in the UK

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is looking to widen its understanding of the feasibility of carrying out large scale greenhouse gas removals in the UK using Direct Air Capture with Carbon Storage (DACCS). As we consider emissions over the Seventh Carbon Budget period (2038 - 2042), we are examining the role different engineered removals technologies could play in the UK in those years and assessing their interactions with other sectors including power and land use.

The Committee expects that DACCS will play a role in delivering engineered removals over the Seventh Carbon Budget period. For the purpose of this work, we define DACCS as technologies directly capture CO2 from the atmosphere through chemical and mechanical processes to produce a concentrated CO2 output that is subsequently injected into the subsurface for secure storage. This project should assess the range of different direct air capture approaches in development and the variation in their required inputs and costs.

DACCS has progressed in recent years, with small-scale projects in operation and larger projects expected to be built in the next few years. While there are no DACCS sites currently operating in the UK, there is growing momentum behind this technology and businesses in hard-to-abate sectors have expressed interest in funding future projects. DACCS is identified as a key technology in future global greenhouse gas removals, but there are some areas that require further research before the extent of its role, especially in specific locations, can be determined.

The CCC is looking to expand its evidence base and develop modelling which assesses the possible scale and rate of DACCS deployment in the UK. There are many factors that influence this feasibility, such as international progress on developing these technologies, its cost, energy and material input requirements, and on the availability of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) network infrastructure. The Committee would like to build a detailed picture of how these factors interact with UK [geographies], infrastructure and power generation.

To inform this work, the CCC is tendering a project to explore 1) when the first large-scale (meaning projects removing at least 1 Mt CO2/year) UK DACCS projects could be deployed and how quickly UK capacity might be expanded, 2) the implications of this scale-up for factors including energy demand, CCS infrastructure and jobs along the supply chain in the UK and 3) how the costs and resource implications of deploying DACCS in the UK compare with similar efforts abroad.

Given that this work is intended to inform CCC modelling for Seventh Carbon Budget advice, the tendered work needs to be delivered by mid-February 2024 at a cost of £60,000 including VAT.

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