Calcium-looping based energy conversion and storage for carbon neutrality –the way forward

Abstract

With the global ambition of moving towards carbon neutrality, this sets to increase significantly with most of the energy sources from renewables. As a result, cost-effective and resource efficient energy conversion and storage will have a great role to play in energy decarbonization. This review focuses on the most recent developments of one of the most promising energy conversion and storage technologies – the calcium-looping. It includes the basics and barriers of calcium-looping beyond CO2 capture and storage (CCS) and technological solutions to address the associated challenges from material to system. Specifically, this paper discusses the flexibility of calcium-looping in the context of CO2 capture, combined with the use of H2-rich fuel gas conversion and thermochemical heat storage. To take advantage of calcium-looping based energy integrated utilization of CCS (EIUCCS) in carbon neutral power generation, multiple-scale process innovations will be required, starting from the material level and extending to the system level.