Bristol’s Avonmouth Docks may not be the biggest facility on the global scale. However, the West of England port could be in line to be a world leader in carbon capture, with a revitalised shipping importance thrown in for good measure. The docks are at the heart of a project that, if realised in full, is estimated to bring a multi-billion pound investment to the region.
Apollo, an engineering and energy advisory consultancy headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, is assessing the potential for a massive carbon capture and shipping hub, centred on Avonmouth near Bristol.
Apollo, which has offices spread across the UK, including Bristol, has been selected to conduct three critical studies for a project, under the banner of “7CO2 Carbon Capture and Shipping Hub”.
The initiative aims to facilitate local and regional decarbonisation across the Southwest of England, the English Midlands, and West Wales, attracting up to GBP£1.3 billion of inward investment to the Bristol region and over £4 billion to the broader area (around USD$5.25 billion). Apollo is handling the shoreside assessment.
Economical use of existing infrastructure
The concept behind 7CO2 is a project to engage with heavy industry, including shipping, to establish a financially viable carbon capture and shipping enterprise for South West England and South Wales.
The name derives from the River Severn, into which the River Avon flows. The Severn is also the marine boundary between South West England and South Wales. Apollo has been engaged to study the science and the practicalities behind the project.
The project relies on the economical use of already installed infrastructure, including shipping and land-based rail freight, to deliver captured CO2 to the site.
“Dispersed emitters will capture their CO2 emissions using carbon capture technology before it is processed for transportation to the hub,” explained Calum Westland, Senior Consultant with Apollo. “Once processed, it will be loaded onto cryogenic storage vessels for onward transportation to the 7CO2 hub in Avonmouth. Utilising this form of non-pipeline transport (NPT) for CO2 allows these emitters to decarbonise by providing a route to storing their carbon emissions.”
Clean power from carbon
The 7CO2 hub, which will be located with the existing Avonmouth Docks, will provide a pathway for the permanent storage of post-combustion captured CO2.
This is in line with the UK Government’s climate goals and, as such, it has attracted grant funding from the UK Innovate Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plan (LIDP). Apollo’s studies will focus on rail, land, and power options, contributing to the comprehensive West of England LIDP report.
Avonmouth has not always been about carbon capture. Quite the opposite in fact, with the coal silo dispatching trains frequently until recently (as in Steve Daniels picture above). Marine emissions are a concern for governments and environmental bodies around the world.
The idea at 7CO2 is to turn that climate liability into a capital gain, by making carbon capture a revenue stream. Apollo is studying the details of making that possible, by looking at the feasibility of transporting CO2 by rail from regional emitters; evaluating land for industrial decarbonisation projects, such as clean power, hydrogen production, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production; and exploring cost-effective power supply options, such as renewable generation and small modular nuclear reactors.