6 February 2024

What's happening - CCS Europe has a look at the State of the Energy Union report 

On 11 September, the European Union published its State of the Energy union report, which measures the EU progress towards the objectives of the Energy Union, the REPowerEU Plan and the clean energy transition, in line with the mabitious targets its has set for 2030 and 2050. 

Overall, GHG emissions have fallen by 32.5% since 1990 (excluding aviation and maritime), the same figure as last year. Emissions under the ETS have decreased by 15.5% in 2023, bringing them to 47% below 2005 levels. However, this is still short of the 62% reduction target needed by 2030.

Projections of economy-wide GHG emissions by Member States show a gap in meeting the EU's climate ambitions. To stay on track for 2030, the EU needs to accelerate its pace of change. This gap is further emphasised by draft NECPs, which would only lead to a 51% emissions reduction by 2030.

For CCS, the report highlights that the Net-Zero technology market is set to triple in value by 2030. This signals a strong case for greater investment in supporting such technologies.

One clear takeaway from the report: more attention is needed on emissions from hard-to-abate industries. While renewables and greening the energy system are crucial, deploying CCS at scale is essential to complete the puzzle.

Have a look at the full State of the Energy Union report.

To learn more about how we think CCS can contribute to the EU's climate ambitions, read our Action Plan.