D5.4 Opportunities for Carbon Dioxide Removal from European pulp and paper plants

This report presents estimations of potential quantities and associated costs for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) via bio-CCS from European pulp and paper plants with biogenic emissions above 250 ktCO2/a. By setting the cut-off criteria at 250 kt/a of biogenic CO2, 58 of the 856 European pulp and paper mills are included in the analysis. Although this is a small share of the total number of mills, the selection covers all large biogenic emitters in the sector, including primarily kraft pulp
producers. Most of the excluded mills produce paper and/or board with no integrated pulp production, and some are mechanical pulp/paper or recycled pulp producers. The majority of the excluded mills have very low or no biogenic CO2 emissions.

To facilitate CO2 capture implementation in pulp and paper mills, investigation of practical considerations at individual mills are necessary. Impurities in the flue gas stream from black liquor combustion could present technical difficulties and additional costs for flue gas cleaning that are not accounted for in the present work, but nonetheless of high importance for the feasibility of large-scale CCS implementation in the pulp and paper industry.