CCS Europe was represented by senior advisor Chris Davies, who in addition to various interventions spoke on a panel dedicated to CCS with Juho Liponnen of the Clean Energy Ministerial CCUS  Initiative, Stefanos Mastrogiannis, director of CCUS with Titan Cement Group, and Roze Wesby, new Head of Business Development CCUS with Holcim. 

GCCSI reminded us that there are now 65 carbon capture plants in operation globally, with 42 under construction. However, progress does not come close to the requirement identified to achieve Paris climate ambitions.

Christian Holzleitner of DG Clima represented the Commission, and did so in a way that imparted no new information at all. After providing a basic explanation of CCS he referred to the Innovation Fund being expected to make €40 billion available by 2040, revision of the ETS next year to provide an incentive for use of CO2, and methodologies for BECCS, BIOCCS and Biochar being currently under development. Challenged on what will happen to all the projects awarded support from the Innovation Fund that have yet to take a FID he said that Member States needed to be “mobilised” to establish a full business case for investment.

A roundtable discussion between attendees on setting CO2 purity standards highlighted the “four curses” of NOX, SOX, Water and CO2 that are of principal concern for the transport of CO2, but also noted that as many as 28 parameters may need to be assessed, including not only potentially damaging impurities but also matters such as temperature and pressure. Klaus-Ruthard Frisch of the International Lime Association indicated that one laboratory is now carrying out tests that may help CEN make progress in drafting a standard. A call was made for the Commission to state at what point in the transport chain CO2 should be collected and tested, potentially enabling a sharing and reduction in costs for emitters.

SOME POINTS IN PASSING

• It was stated more than once that the CBAM, as currently framed, will not provide various industry sectors with sufficient protection from competition to support decarbonisation investment. As a representative of the steel industry said: “it will cover the import of a block of steel but not the import of products made from steel.” 
• Repeated calls were made for the Commission to propose requirements for the use of low carbon products to create a incentive to support investment in their creation. 
• The claim was made that decarbonisation of concrete and steel would increase costs of the products by 40% but that this would not be greatly reflected in the price of articles made with them. It would add 2% to the cost of a car and 5% to the cost of a house or apartment.