The Role of Inherent Safety in the Selection of Sustainable CO2 Capture Options

Decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as energy-intensive industries and maritime transport is essential to mitigating climate change. While carbon capture technologies are critical to this effort, social sustainability, particularly process safety, is often overlooked in the evaluation of their suitability at an early design stage. This study integrates inherent safety into a four-pillar sustainability framework, encompassing technological, economic, environmental, and social criteria, to enable a more comprehensive assessment. Case studies focused on an industrial cement plant and a cruise ship explored three carbon capture technologies: solvent-based absorption, adsorption, and calcium looping for the industrial case, and solvent-based absorption, adsorption, and cryogenic separation for the maritime case study. The inherent safety assessment revealed significant performance differences, with amine scrubbing demonstrating a hazard level at least 15 times higher than alternative catpure technologies. Trade-offs between safety and environmental performance were evident in both case studies, highlighting the necessity of incorporating inherent safety into decision-making to ensure sustainable carbon capture strategies.