Fighting greenhouse gases: the PERL pilot platform soon to be inaugurated

Fighting greenhouse gases: the PERL pilot platform soon to be inaugurated.

On September 16, 2020, the teams at the PERL (Platform for Experimental Research in Lacq) will be welcoming a delegation of journalists and Group employees to inaugurate its new pilot platform aimed at conducting research to find solutions to capture, store and valorize CO₂ and other gaseous effluents in order to rise to the unprecedented challenge of global warming.

In light of this emergency, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a crucial subject and a serious global issue. Fossil energies are one of the main causes of CO₂ emissions, and yet, according to the Sustainable Development scenario of the International Energy Agency (IEA), hydrocarbons are due to represent almost half of the primary energy mix in 2040 and will thereby continue to play a decisive role in meeting the energy needs of an ever growing world population. There is a solution to this dilemma though: CCUS, for Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization, which concerns the main greenhouse gas, CO₂.

 

At Total – which has been strongly committed to developing the CCUS sector for several years now – we have mobilized huge resources to become a leader in this technological domain.

Today, in order to deliver competitive and innovative solutions, we cover the entire CCUS value chain, and the goal is to systematically reduce the carbon footprints of our operations. The PERL, Platform for Experimental Research in Lacq, is the nerve center of environmentally-focused technological research for Total’s Exploration & Production and for the entire Group. From laboratory pilot to industrial scale, we are one of the only majors to have a full experimentation chain and large-scale made-to-measure experimental resources at the PERL.

These cutting-edge pilots are already up and running, and will be officially inaugurated during the event. They are proof of the Group’s ambition to become the responsible energy major by delivering more affordable, cleaner and safer energy to as many people as possible, while showcasing our expertise across the CCUS value chain.

The key figures of CCUS:

Global objective:

• Climate challenge 2°C goal
• 10% of the entire R&D budget

The Group’s contribution:

• 5 Mt/year stored by 2030
• 5 Bt/year stored by 2040

At the PERL:

• 14 pilots
• 20 researchers at the PERL
• 6 ha of large-scale research infrastructures in an industrial environment.

For more information about the PERL.