Chris Behan
Project Delivery Lead, CCUS
“Stepping back into CCUS is exciting. Having started my career in carbon capture, it feels like there’s unfinished business.”
Chris Behan is the Project Delivery Lead in our carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) growth team. He joined Worley in 2018 but his career in CCUS began over a decade ago.
“I was a project manager for a post-combustion CO2 capture pilot plant in Scotland,” Chris says. “I then supported the design, build, and operation of a 100+ tonnes per day demonstration plant in West Yorkshire.
“However, in around 2012, government funding for CCUS projects took a downturn. I stepped out of CCUS to focus on other energy projects. But I’m excited to be back as the industry gains momentum again.”
Accelerating CCUS project delivery
Essential, transition, and pathway are the three words Chris uses to describe CCUS.
“The challenge to reach net zero by 2050 is huge. However, CCUS can act as a safe and affordable transition tool while renewable energy production, clean hydrogen, and other energy storage technologies ramp up.
“Energy infrastructure delivery rates, including CCUS projects, need to increase dramatically,” he continues. “In Australia, the delivery of a large-scale CCUS plant previously took around 10 years. This isn’t fast enough but we have the power to be the leaders and instigators of change.”
Conquering the misconceptions
Chris notes there are clear leaders in CCUS. But he believes this is a positive sign.
“There’s a common misconception that CCUS technology is not proven at large scale when in fact there are plants existing plants capturing a combined 43 tonnes per annum in commercial operation today. With CO2 being transported and injected downhole safely.
“The UK is leading the way with large CCUS projects that are well advanced through the FEL-3 stage in the power generation and petrochemical space. And North America is catching up with the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Likewise, oil and gas customers in Asia Pacific are starting to take projects through to the execute stage.”
The role of technology
Chris believes technology will play a key part in increasing the development of CCUS projects.
“I expect that CO2 capture technologies will continue to advance, which will drive down through-life cost. In addition, alternative materials, such as non-metallic pipeline options, will become viable again to reduce cost and time to build.
“This will likely trigger a more standardized and efficient rate of development for these projects
“In 10 years, I believe many CO2 capture plants, pipeline networks, and industrial clusters will be in operation across the world. Predominantly in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and APAC, supporting the world to get on the 1.5° curve to net zero.”
