The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) met with Executive Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and Directors-General Mauro Petriccione of DG CLIMA and Ditte Juul-Jørgensen of DG ENER. The discussion focused on how CCS projects, CO2 infrastructure, and clean hydrogen can play an important role in decarbonising Europe and contribute to the European economic recovery. High-level representatives from the ZEP membership and beyond – presented their ‘shovel-ready’ projects and how they can support Europe’s post-pandemic recovery plan and the EU’s target to become climate-neutral by 2050.
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Capturing the clean growth opportunities – Why a CCS industry is vital for European economic recovery and climate-neutrality
The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) and high-level representatives from energy and industry companies attended a meeting with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans on 9 July. The discussion focused on highlighting the role of CCS and CCU technologies in the recovery plan and shovel-ready projects were presented, showing the European Commission that CCS is necessary for the EU to reach climate-neutrality by 2050.
Input to DG CLIMA on the Innovation Fund – challenges for CCS projects and lack of alignment with the Taxonomy
The Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) would like to thank the European Commission for a transparent process leading up to the planned first call of the Innovation Fund. ZEP appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback and engage with DG CLIMA at the Expert Group meetings, as well as in bilateral meetings, and is thankful for the timely updates provided at the ZEP Advisory Council meetings and network meetings.
ZEP has provided input to DG CLIMA to highlight some issues that arise in the current state of design of the Innovation Fund, which ZEP believes are considerable and could have negative effects on the possibility to reach the EU target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Future-proofing the Taxonomy regulation regarding CO2 transport infrastructure
Challenge: The current Taxonomy screening criteria disqualifies the entire CO2 infrastructure even if only the smallest amount of the CO2 is aimed for utilisation.
Background
The regulation establishing a framework for Sustainable Finance was approved by the Council on 15 April and was adopted by the European Parliament on 18 June. In Article 10, this regulation refers to environmentally safe carbon capture and utilisation (CCU). The Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG) has also recommended that the Platform on Sustainable Finance look at how and under what conditions to include CCU technologies in different manufacturing sectors in the future.
Making clean hydrogen and aluminium manufacturing eligible in the Sustainable Taxonomy
Challenge: The current Taxonomy screening criteria disqualifies grid-connected manufacturing of hydrogen and aluminium, regardless of the technology used.
Background
In the “EU Taxonomy Report: Technical Annex” that was published on 9 March 2020, the screening criteria specifies that the average carbon intensity for the electricity that is used for manufacturing of hydrogen and aluminium must be at or below 100 gCO2e/kWh.
In order for any electricity grid-connected hydrogen and aluminium manufacturing to be defined as sustainable according to the Sustainable Taxonomy, there is a need to adjust or make an addition to the screening criteria in the Technical Annex to the Taxonomy report under 3.5 Manufacture of Hydrogen and 3.3 Manufacture of Aluminium.
This amendment is crucial to allow for electricity grid-connected sustainable hydrogen and aluminium manufacturing, enabling timely scale-up of clean hydrogen.
ETP Clean Energy Technology Guide
PRESS RELEASE: Developing cross-border CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure in Europe is vital to deliver climate neutrality
A new report from the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) looks at the challenges and opportunities for CO2 transport in Europe, including pipelines and other modes of transport. The report entitled ‘A Trans-European CO2 Transportation Infrastructure for CCUS: Opportunities & Challenges’ provides an overview of CO2 transportation, particularly in industrial clusters, and highlights the importance of developing dedicated business models, as well as enabling policy framework, for CO2 transportation.
Northern Lights Project Concept Report
ZEP response to the consultation on 2030 climate target plan
Reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in a cost-efficient way remains the primary focus. With a legally binding objective of climate neutrality by 2050, it is critical that the European Union undertakes prompt action to start a just transition towards 2050 in a cost-efficient manner. The upward revision of targets makes the need for CCS at scale even clearer.
ZEP response to ‘Roadmap on Strategy for Energy System Integration’
ZEP supports the EU’s objective of climate neutrality by 2050. While designing a strategy for a net-zero compliant energy system, ZEP believes that a technology-neutral approach should be privileged. All low-carbon technologies, such as CCS and CCU, that are scientifically proven and readily available, should be deployed to support a cost-efficient trajectory to climate neutrality.