Techno-economic design of carbon supply and infrastructure pathways for carbon capture, utilisation, sequestration, and removal in Europe

Abstract

Carbon management is one of the core concepts to be addressed for the transition to climate-neutral energy and industry. This concept requires not only carbon capture technologies but also efficient transport networks and infrastructure for utilisation, sequestration, and removal; and a reliable CO2 supply strategy. As CO2 becomes an increasingly important feedstock for e-fuels and chemicals, understanding how it can be sourced, transported, and managed is essential. This thesis examines integrated carbon management through two techno-economic studies that address both CO2 transport infrastructure and alternative carbon supply pathways for future e-fuel production.

This work first evaluates CO2 transport infrastructure to find the most feasible set up to connect biogenic emission sources in Finland with utilisation, storage, and removal destinations across Europe. Transportation options include pipelines, shipping, rail, and trucking, together with CO2 conditioning, liquefaction, and storage. Carbon utilisation is represented as e-methanol production, while offshore geological storage and onshore mineralisation are assessed as permanent storage options. After configuring the best transport network, the study compares four carbon supply pathways for e-fuel production: transported biogenic CO2, transported biomass, local biomass utilisation with carbon capture, and direct air capture. The analysis covers Finland, Germany, and Spain in 2030, 2040, and 2050, and it accounts for future developments and learning curves in renewable electricity, carbon capture technologies, and hydrogen and e-methanol production. Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Process Economic Analyzer are used for process modelling and cost estimation, while system-level economic modelling is applied to evaluate complete value chains.

The results first show that the most feasible transport configuration is a hybrid pipeline-shipping set up to link the emitters to cross-border sequestration and utilisation locations. Then the results indicate that the optimal carbon management solutions depend on renewable electricity availability, transport infrastructure, CO2 resources, and end-use applications. Biomass-based pathways with integrated carbon capture such as biomass transport to cement plants as thermal energy source and local biomass utilisation in biomass combined heat and power plants provide competitive carbon sources for e-methanol production. Direct air capture becomes increasingly attractive towards 2050 as costs decline. Overall, the findings demonstrate that carbon management should be approached as an integrated system-level question rather than as just an infrastructure problem. The thesis provides a framework for evaluating carbon supply and infrastructure strategies and supports the development of cost-effective pathways towards carbon-neutral and carbon-negative economies.