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Objective The aim of the present article is to conduct an integrated assessment in order to explore whether CCS could be a viable technological option for significantly reducing future CO 2 emissions in China.Methods In this paper, an integrated approach covering five assessment dimensions is chosen.Each dimension is investigated using specific methods (graphical abstract). ResultsThe most crucial precondition that must be met is a reliable storage capacity assessment based on site-specific geological data. Our projection of different trends of coal-based power plant capacities up to 2050 ranges between 34 and 221 Gt of CO 2 that may be captured from coal-fired power plants to be built by 2050. If very optimistic assumptions about the country's CO 2 storage potential are applied, 192 Gt of CO 2 could theoretically be stored as a result of matching these sources with suitable sinks. If a cautious approach is taken, this figure falls to 29 Gt of CO 2 . In practice, this potential will decrease further with the impact of technical, legal, economic and social acceptance factors. Further constraints may be the delayed commercial availability of CCS in China; a significant barrier to achieving the economic viability of CCS due to a currently non-existing nation-wide CO 2 pricing scheme that generates a sufficiently strong price signal; an expected life-cycle reduction rate of the power plant's greenhouse gas emissions of 59 to 60%; and an increase in most other negative environmental and social impacts. Conclusion and practice implicationsMost experts expect a striking dominance of coal-fired power generation in the country's electricity sector, even if the recent trend towards a flattened deployment of coal capacity and reduced annual growth rates of coal-fired generation proves to be true in the future. In order to reduce fossil fuel-related CO 2 emissions to a level that would be consistent with the long-term climate protection target of the international community to

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If the current energy policy priorities are retained, there might be no need to focus additionally on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the power plant sector of Germany. This applies even in the case of ambitious climate protection targets, according to the results of the presented integrated assessment study. These cover a variety of aspects: Firstly, the technology is not expected to become available on a large scale before 2025 in Germany. Secondly, if renewable energies and combined heat and power are expanded further and energy productivity is enhanced, there is likely to be only a limited demand for CCS power plants as a scenario analysis of CCS deployment in Germany shows. Thirdly, cost analysis using the learning curve approach shows that the electricity generation costs of renewable electricity are approaching those of CCS power plants. This leads to the consequence that from 2020, several renewable technologies may well be in a position to offer electricity at a cheaper rate than CCS power plants. In addition, a review of new life cycle assessments for CO 2 separation in the power plant sector indicates that the greenhouse gas emissions from one kilowatt hour of electricity generated by first-generation CCS power plants could only be reduced by 68 to 87 per cent (95 per cent in individual cases). Finally, a cautious, conservative estimate of the effective German CO 2 storage capacity of approximately 5 billion tonnes of CO 2 is calculated, including a fluctuation range yielding values between 4 and 15 billion tonnes of CO 2. Therefore, the total CO 2 emissions caused by large point sources in Germany could be stored for 12 years (basic value) or for 8 respectively 33 years (sensitivity values).

China is very active in the research and development of CO 2 capture and storage technologies (CCS). However, existing estimates for CO 2 storage capacity are very uncertain. This uncertainty is due to limited geological knowledge, a lack of large-scale research on CO 2 injection, and different assessment approaches and parameter settings.Hence storage scenarios represent a method that can be used by policy makers to demonstrate the range of possible storage capacity developments, to help interpret uncertain results and to identify the limitations of existing assessments. In this paper, three storage scenarios are developed for China by evaluating China-wide studies supplemented with more detailed site-and basin-specific assessments. It is estimated that the greatest storage potential can be found in deep saline aquifers. Oil and gas fields may also be used. Coal seams are only included in the highest storage scenario. In total, the scenarios presented demonstrate that China has an effective storage capacity of between 65 and 1,551 Gt of CO 2 . Furthermore, the authors emphasise a need for action to harmonise storage capacity assessment approaches due to the uncertainties involved in the capacity assessments analysed in this study. Highlights:• China's CO 2 storage capacity varies considerably in existing estimates.• Assumptions must be transparent to enable all stakeholders to evaluate the results.• The storage scenarios yield a range between the maximum and minimum storage capacity.• Storage scenarios S1-S3 for China yield a capacity of 1,551, 402 and 65 Gt of CO 2 .