Letter on carbon: SLB’s early-stage tech play

US firm’s deal with Aker Carbon Capture could be catalyst for growth in a sector hampered by high costs

Innovation is alive and kicking in the carbon-capture technology sector. Startups, universities, small-to-medium-size firms and large industrials are all working to develop new technologies and refine existing ones as industrial demand for efficient capture grows rapidly. The range of technologies in play falls into three broad categories: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxy-fuel combustion. Within each of these groups there are multiple variations under development or commercially available. Regardless of the technology, the holy grail is the reduction of capital and operating costs. The capture stage, with its high energy intensive processes, can account for up to 70% of the cost of de