On 6 March, CCS Europe co-hosted an event at the European Parliament with MEP Erik Poulsen (Denmark, Renew Europe) on “The Future of CCS in Europe: following the Danish example”.

The Commission’s recent publication of the 2040 Climate Targets Communication and the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy introduces targets for EU Member States to reduce their CO2 emissions by 90% by 2040. This is a key milestone, but in order to reach it, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies must play a key role in it.  

As stated by MEP Poulsen, more support from the institutions is needed to further bolster CCS in the EU. He stated that “Member States need an EU-wide approach for a CCS single market, and a regulatory framework to promote CO2 transport infrastructures across countries”.

During the event, CCS Europe had the pleasure to steer the discussion with expert speakers from Denmark, a front-runner country when it comes to CCS developments in the EU. Denmark is indeed already a well-established country for CCS projects. The government supports CCS by providing subsidy schemes to companies and by giving the right incentives to bolster CCS technologies. Denmark has already signed bilateral agreements between EU countries such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands to support cross-border CO2 transport.

Anders Hoffmann, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Danish Ministry for Climate, Energy and Utilities, made the case for CCS as a key technology to reaching the net zero targets, and because CCS will help create negative emissions. Deputy Permanent Secretary Hoffmann used his intervention to emphasise that we need regulations steered by subsidies that will create a market for CCS; we must develop the full value chain of CCS; we need to work closely with industries to cut red tape and get rid of obstacles; and we need to work fast in order to reach the targets.

Randi Skytte, Head of Development and Regulation at Orsted used her intervention to call for continued development of technologies that will store and transport CO2; and for the development of a certification scheme for CCS. Ms. Skytte expressed the view that negative emissions should be integrated into the ETS, while also creating long-term contracts and agreements that will give investment certainty to companies.

David Egholm, Professor at Aarhus University addressed the importance of promoting new technologies for CO2 mineralisation through the use of volcanic ash. CO2 mineralisation and CO2 storage are similar techniques and must be addressed equally; some geological areas are better for CO2 storage, while others for CO2 mineralisation.

The event was well attended by the burgeoning community of CCS supporters who share our view that there can be no net zero without CCS. Join our community of followers to stay up to date with our next events!