Establishing a sustainable and closed carbon cycle and thus making CO2 usable as a raw material and storable as methane - this is being tested in the “Carbon - Cycle Economy Demonstration project” (C-CED). The project is a continuation of the investigations of the USC-FlexStore Project. The technical-scientific investigations are supplemented by techno-economic analyses.
The lead project of the "Vorzeigeregion Energie" program, which is funded by the Climate and Energy Fund, will be carried out in cooperation with renowned partners from the energy sector, industry and research under the leadership of RAG Austria AG in the period from 2021 to 2025.
Various CO2 capture and utilization technologies will be combined in the C-CED. For example, CO2 is to be extracted on a pilot scale from various sources such as the air, exhaust gases from the steel industry or biogas and subsequently made storable by converting it into valuable, renewable methane (methanation).
Methane as a carbon-containing energy carrier, but also as a raw material, plays an important role in many industrial processes. From today's perspective, it is hardly conceivable to turn away completely from methane, even though CO2 is often produced in these processes. This is because gaseous energy sources are characterized by a high energy density and can be stored excellently in the existing infrastructure, the former underground natural gas deposits.
Based on these considerations, it seems sensible to establish a carbon cycle economy that, with the inclusion of seasonal large-volume storage, at the same time creates the flexibility that we urgently need due to the switch to renewable energy production. In this way, energy will be available in the energy system of the future when it is needed.
