Towards the economic optimisation of European supply chains for CO2capture, transport and sequestration, including societal risk analysis

European large stationary sources are currently emitting more than 1.4 Gtons of CO2 every year. A significant decrease in greenhouse gases generation cannot be achieved without relying on carbon capture and sequestration technologies. However, although being practiced for over 30 years, CO2 transportation is intrinsically characterised by the risk of leakage. To assess and tackle this issue, this study proposes a spatially mixed-integer linear programming approach for the economic optimisation of a European supply chain for carbon capture, transport and geological storage, in which a risk analysis is carried out and incorporated within the modelling framework. Post-combustion, oxy-fuel combustion and pre-combustion are considered as technological options for CO2 capture, whereas both pipelines (inshore and offshore) and ships are taken into account as transport means. Societal risk assessment and risk mitigation measures are included in the design of the transport network. The overall supply chain is economically optimised, in such a way as to guarantee that the local level of risk complies with a pre-defined threshold.