Emitting CO2 to the atmosphere is currently much cheaper than storing it safely underground. Emitters can pay an ‘ETS wergild’ and are divorced from all the consequences of their actions, yet if they try to sequester CO2 they risk taking on liability for decades under the CO2 Storage Directive. Those factors serve, along with the lack of a near-term business case, to prolong the current inertia on CCS in the EU. Urgent action is now required to deliver CO2 storage projects and enabling infrastructure in preparation for commercial deployment. This requires an Executable Plan, owned by the European Commission.

This note (download link below) sketches the contours of such a plan, describing how the Commission can effectively and rapidly aid wide uptake of CCS in Europe; delivering additional CCS projects in power and industry; progressing the development of CCS hubs in Europe; and supporting the appraisal of storage capacity required for commercial CCS deployment. Find it here:

ZEP Executable Plan for enabling CCS in Europe (PDF – 872.67kb)

ZEP Executable Plan Annex 1: 5-point CCS Action Plan (PDF – 386.29kb)

ZEP Executable Plan Annex 2: Country list-map (PDF – 695.66kb)

ZEP Executable Plan Annex 3: EU CCS funding overview (PDF – 663.04kb)