There is a wide public acknowledgement that the path to Net-Zero requires the deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) at an industrial scale. Realizing a CCUS value chain requires transporting dense CO2 by pipeline over long distances to storage or users. Currently, the CO2 pipeline landscape consists of just over 7,000 kilometers (km), the vast majority of which are operated in the United States (U.S.). However, multiple CCUS projects across Europe, such as Aramis, Porthos, Net Zero Teesside, and Acorn, are underway to expand this infrastructure. In the U.S. alone, the goal is to expand the local CO2 pipeline infrastructure to an ambitious length of 50,000 – 150,000 km by 2050.

As the energy industry faces greater public scrutiny, the drive for “zero incidents” and safe integrity management practices becomes increasingly critical to its sustainability. The ongoing public response and debate against plans to expand the U.S. CO2 pipeline network following the February 2020 incident in Mississippi underscores this.

This paper discusses the key integrity threats and gaps that the industry needs to address to safely operate dense CO2 pipelines in a low-carbon economy.