CCS Europe Newsletter
October edition - web version
3 October, 2024
📆There are 9,221 days until 2050. The latest reading of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere from the Keeling curve is 421.58 parts per million. That is over 120 parts per million more than the highest reading in the 800,000 years preceding the industrial era. Alarming. 😳 High time for humanity to reverse this trend. The clock is ticking… ⏱️ |
HEADLINE NEWS |
White smoke from the Berlaymont. Over to you, Parliament. In a busy month for EU politics, September saw the eventual nomination of the new college of commissioners by President von der Leyen, after delay and drama that a UK Brexit cabinet might have been proud of. All eyes now move to the EP, who will be confirming the chosen 27 (or not?) after suitable interrogation. 👀 Your mission, should you, and you – and you and you – choose to accept it… In her mission letters to her prospective cabinet, von der Leyen delegated responsibility for CCS policy to not one, but four of the 27 commissioners. Wow. The team at CCS Europe HQ is choosing to read this as a clear sign that our call for a [single, dedicated, full-time] CCS Envoy has been heeded… *cough*. Cause for confusion? The mission letters indicate that Teresa Ribera will have a lead role in preparing the Clean Industrial Deal that will affect CCS financing. Stéphane Séjourné will develop the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act. Wopke Hoekstra is responsible for addressing key issues affecting carbon capture deployment, while Dan Jorgensen has to make proposals to increase the uptake of CCUS. The more cooks in the kitchen, the better the recipe, right? Right?! 😖 |
OUR ACTIVITIES |
EU Insider Update: Putting CCS Front and Centre We’ve been busy advocating for the future of CCS and had some super productive chats with top EU officials. First up, we met with none other than Vesa Terävä, Head of the European Green Deal Unit at the European Commission. It was a great opportunity to push for stronger EU-wide action on CCS—and that’s exactly what we did. We made clear our perspective that CCS should be at the top of the European Green Deal’s climate and energy strategy if we’re serious about hitting net-zero goals. 🎯 On the agenda? More collaboration, more visibility, and ensuring CCS is high up the agenda inside the Commission. Let’s make CCS happen 🚀 But that’s not all. We also met with the Environmental Policy team from Poland’s Permanent Representation to the EU. We floated the idea of of co-hosting a CCS event, which was warmly received. Stay tuned for more updates as we look to put CCS front and centre in the EU climate conversation. 🌍 Hunting for a CCS Champion in the European Parliament We’re on a mission to find CCS champions in the European Parliament—and it appears we’re getting closer… Our team has been in full gear, meeting with MEPs left, right and centre (some of them are still knocking about, apparently) to secure the political backing we need to push CCS initiatives to the next level. Why? Because if we’re going to hit Europe’s climate goals, we need Parliament to keep up the heat on the Commission when it comes to CCS. We’re keeping the pressure on, with a focus on key committees like ITRE, ENVI, and IMCO, making sure CCS is on everyone’s radar. We’re even in talks with some MEPs to organise a CCS event in Strasbourg later this year. 🗓️ Keep an eye out for more updates… CCS advocacy on tour Our nomadic CCS advocate-in-chief, Chris Davies, popped up in Reykjavik, Iceland on 12 September to deliver a speech at the 2024 Mineralization Summit, organised by Carbfix. In his speech, Chris emphasised the need for greater political and financial support to accelerate CCS deployment across Europe, urging industry and policymakers to work together to meet ambitious climate goals while lamenting the slow progress and lack of substantial investment decisions in recent years. Read the full speech. ICYMI: CCS and the End of Free Allowances Webinar Recap! On 24 September we hosted a webinar called "Navigating the End of Free Allowances under the EU ETS and the Role of CCS". We were delighted to hear from four awesome speakers— Peter Vis, ETS expert and former member of cabinet of the commissioner for Climate Action, Heiko Kunst, Head of Unit for ETS Implementation Support at the European Commission’s DG CLIMA, Liv Rathe, director of our member company Norsk Hydro and Toby Lockwood, technology and markets director for our member Clean Air Task Force —who kept the online crowd engaged with their expert insights. Here are the takeaways in a nutshell: Big takeaway #1: The end of free allowances will finally push hard-to-abate industries towards CCS investment—but only if there’s financial support to back it up. Big takeaway #2: The Commission needs to step up its game! It’s time for them to work more closely with Member States to promote CCS, not just for decarbonisation but to keep European industries competitive on the global stage. Big takeaway #3: With carbon allowances sitting around €64, it’s tough for industries to justify CCS investments. Despite all the buzz, we’ve only seen one new CCS facility in recent years. Without some serious Commission intervention, we might not see many more… |
CCS EUROPE IN THE PRESS 🗞️ |
Spotted in Politico’s Pro Energy newsletter: ‘One of Brussels’ hottest lobby groups.’ Oh Politico, how you make us blush 🥵 This was one of the handful of mentions we got since our last update, four of which coming from our favourites at Politico 🫶 Mentions In chronological order: Our director’s rallying cry to our dear members was picked up in the Politico Pro Energy newsletter at the end of August. In early September, our fierce rebuttal of Oil Change International’s disparaging report on the value of CCS earned an entire section of the Politico Pro Energy newsletter dedicated to our response (in which the aforementioned quote appeared). Then, in mid-September a request for comment from Euractiv saw our views picked up in their subsequent article about the Energy Union (paywall). Chris took the opportunity to point out that ‘no amount of electricity will curb the emissions released by the chemical process of making products like cement.’ Our reaction to the recognition of the importance of CCS in Mario Draghi’s seminal report got further attention from the Politico Energy newsletter team, with Chris’ quote welcoming Draghi’s endorsement of CCS earning a mention. Finally, our reaction to the President’s Commissioner appointments pointing out the confused mandate for CCS, earned us further attention in – you guessed it – Politico again, featuring in both their Pro Energy and Sustainability newsletters. Ker-ching. |
CCS DEVELOPMENTS FROM AROUND THE BLOC |
As good CCS advocates should, the team at CCS Europe HQ has been keeping our beady eye on the news for interesting developments across the bloc. Here are our top three picks for September: #1: Project Greensand gets certified (Energy-pedia). DNV, the independent energy expert and assurance provider, has certified the first CO2 storage site for Project Greensand in Denmark. #2: How a carbon central bank can turn Europe into a CO₂ “eater” (Nachrichten). A European Carbon Central Bank, leveraging market-based incentives to set the course for a net-negative emissions balance in the second half of the century could turn Europe into a CO₂ “eater”, so to speak. #3: Oslo Backs Equinor in CCS Push (Energy Intelligence). With help from the Norwegian state, commercial partners and the EU, Equinor continues to invest heavily in carbon capture and storage (CCS), mainly on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). CCS is a priority for Norway's top brass. |
LOOKING AHEAD: OCTOBER 👀 |
Although the seasons are beginning to change, the top of the Brussels agenda looks set to stay the same heading into October, with politics the main order of the day. Commissioner hearings and a Parliamentary verdict still stand between us and the beginning in earnest of the new mandate. But that isn’t stopping the busy bees at the CCS hive from getting down to the business of advocacy. Here's a taster of what will be keeping us occupied in the coming month: ICMF Pau: October will see the Industrial Carbon Management Forum in Pau (10-11 October)– and CCS Europe will be on the ground. Reach out to our director Chris if you intend to be there too. What is more, we will be hosting our own event on how to make CCS happen in the margins of the Forum, in partnership with the Zero Emissions Platform. Interested in attending? Sign up now! Fertile ground: CCS Europe will also be represented at the Fertilizers Europe’s annual conference on 15 October, with Chris joining a panel discussion focused on bridging Europe’s green and industrial deal. A Lithuanian adventure: Furthermore, Chris will be heading east for a conference in Lithuania on 29 October, courtesy of the Lithuanian energy ministry, where CCS and CCUS innovation will be on the menu. Nice. 🎬That wraps up this month’s dose of CCS updates. We’ll be back in your inboxes with more next month. In the meantime, let’s keep making CCS happen! Not yet a subscriber to our monthly newsletter? Sign up today! |