Brussels, July 25 – The European Zero Emissions Technology & Innovation Platform (ZEP) is today launching a new report on the “Role of CCUS in a below 2 degrees scenario”. The report concludes that the urgent deployment of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is central to ensuring that Europe can meet its contribution to the Paris Agreement, and deliver long-term emissions reduction. CCUS is particularly necessary for tackling emissions in ‘hard to mitigate’ sectors such as industrial processes and distributed heating.
The report argues that European industry in particular needs to deploy low-carbon solutions that are available today, and CCUS represents one of the few technologies that is available, scalable and cost- effective. CCUS therefore enables a transition that is ‘just’ both locally and globally, sustaining the economic contribution of the industries in which Europe has already invested.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Graeme Sweeney, Chairman of ZEP, said:
“The European Commission has just published its consultation on the strategy for long-term EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction and how to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050. There is no doubt that reaching this target will be incredibly challenging and we will need all tools at our disposal. Our report published today is clear: CCUS is not an and/or technology, it is a must-have.
CCUS technologies are available now and their urgent deployment therefore represents the lowest- cost solution with minimal disruption to industry, consumers and infrastructure. By comparing CCUS deployment to delivery of historical public services, such as the provision of clean water or transport infrastructure, we begin to see CCUS in a different light; as part of a ‘just transition’ that delivers benefits to various sectors and national economies across Europe. It preserves jobs in vital industries and creates new ones, thereby delivering economic prosperity for Europe whilst establishing our industrial heartlands as the go-to place for low-carbon products on the international scene.
In the last year, we have seen much-needed action and progress on delivering CCUS in countries such as Norway, The Netherlands and UK. What is needed now is coordinated action between the Commission, Member State Governments and the private sector to put in place the necessary mechanisms to enable investment in CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. This will create industrial CCS clusters that are able to reconcile continued growth with reducing emissions, thereby ensuring a sustainable future for key European regions”.
