Brussels, 26 February 2025 --
Carbon Capture and Storage Europe (CCS Europe) welcomed the Commission’s recognition of the need to build a market for carbon capture and decarbonised products, but questioned whether voluntary labelling would be enough to promote investment CCS on the scale needed.
“A voluntary label is a start but it’s hardly a sufficient incentive for European businesses to sink billions of euros into CCS infrastructure,” said Chris Davies, Director of CCS Europe.
Creation of an Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, measures to ensure that the CBAM is effective, and insistence that a 90% reduction in emissions be achieved by 2040 will all encourage CCS deployment, Davies suggested, but they alone would not achieve the scale up in investment required.
He said: “The Commission’s Industrial Carbon Management strategy calls for 280 million tonnes of CO2 to be captured annually by 2040. This will only be achieved if every Member State introduces support measures, and the Commission should be proposing national targets to stimulate governments to act.
The Commission described extensive deployment of carbon capture as “indispensable” for the achievement of net-zero emissions in its Communication last year.
Full decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries such as cement, lime and aluminium—sectors where emissions are largely process-related and cannot be abated through renewable energy alone – will need to capture carbon at scale by 2050.
“We look now to the next step, a commitment to promote carbon capture and storage in the Steel and Metals Action Plan, the Chemicals Industry Package, and the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act,” added Davies.