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oa Catalyst-Induced Carbon Dioxide Conversion and Utilization during In-Situ Heating of Oil Shale: Immeasurable Potential
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, World CCUS Conference 2025, Sep 2025, Volume 2025, p.1 - 5
Abstract
The hydrogenation of CO2 into renewable fuels is a particularly promising utilization pathway, in which thermocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation is regarded as the most viable and scalable technology. In-situ shale conversion operates at temperatures between 300 and 500 °C, which aligns closely with the reaction conditions required for thermocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. This similarity suggests that integrating thermocatalytic CO2 hydrogenation into in-situ shale conversion could reduce CO2 emissions while enhancing the economic value of shale oil production. Therefore, by leveraging both CO2 hydrogenation with H₂ and CO2 reduction with H2S, in-situ shale conversion has the potential not only to mitigate self-generated CO2, H2, and H2S but also to address CO2-included waste gases from human activities on the surface. In this study, we successfully demonstrate the thermocatalytic hydrogenation and reduction of CO2 during in-situ shale conversion by heating simulations. This work shows extremely large carbon capture and utilization (CCU) potential, with initial projections of 15 m3 of CO2 conversion and utilization per tonne of shale oil produced. Further estimates indicate that the recoverable resources of this in-situ conversion shale oil in the Ordos Basin (China) alone exceed 70 billion tons, corresponding to a potential CCU of ∼1,050 billion cubic meters.
