The European Commission is working on plans to facilitate investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, as reported by Reuters on June 9. The Commission recognizes that the development of infrastructure for capturing and storing CO2 underground or utilizing it in industries has been progressing slowly, largely due to obstacles such as high costs associated with developing storage sites. To overcome these challenges, the Commission is formulating an EU strategy that may encompass targets for CO2 storage infrastructure in 2040 and 2050, as well as bloc-wide standards on CO2 quality and access to carbon capture infrastructure.

The EU views CCS as an important part of its decarbonization effort, especially for hard-to-abate industrial sectors. In March 2023, the European Commission proposed the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which aims to simplify the permitting process and facilitate access to public funds for net-zero technologies. The NZIA sets a target for the EU to have 50 million tons of annual CO2 storage capacity by 2030. It also projects that the storage capacity needs to reach 550 million tons by 2050 to achieve the EU’s net-zero emission target. Moreover, the Commission also launched a public consultation on June 8 to assess the role that CCS technology can play in decarbonizing the EU economy by 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively. The consultation aims to gather input on measures needed to unlock the potential of CCS, including the deployment of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure across the EU.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/eu-plans-strategy-scale-up-investment-capturing-co2-emissions-2023-06-09/

https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/oil-gas-and-coal/carbon-capture-storage-and-utilisation_en

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13848-Carbon-capture-utilisation-and-storage-deployment_en

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/industry/sustainability/net-zero-industry-act_en