The critical role of CCS in meeting Europe’s energy, climate and societal goals is now indisputable: the European Commission’s Communication on CCS confirms that it is “vital for meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets”, while the Communication on the 2030 energy and climate framework highlights that CCS “may be the only option available to reduce direct emission from industrial processes at the large scale needed.” As importantly, it will ensure Europe has access to a diverse, reliable and secure energy supply.
While attention to date has focused on the emitting part of the CCS chain (CO2 capture), large-scale CCS requires CO2 transport and storage infrastructure – at the right time, in the right place, at the right capacity. In the current policy environment, there is no indication this will happen. There is a dearth of companies developing storage sites.
Innovative business models are therefore needed which align commercial interests across the entire CCS chain; and given the long lead times – 6 to 10 years for both pipelines and storage sites – development needs to start now, ahead of wide-scale deployment. Indeed, having a framework in place which enables storage projects to be established with the confidence that then also enables investment in CO2 capture is critical to the timely deployment of CCS in Europe.
The question is: “What is needed to make CO2 transport and storage a viable business?” In order to answer it, ZEP created a dedicated taskforce of experts representing a broad cross-section of the CCS value chain, including industry, academia and NGOs. Their conclusions – and solutions – are outlined in this groundbreaking report. Download ZEP’s report here: