The report has been carried out by the industry division at ZERO (Zero Emissions Resource Organisation), based in Norway.
For large-scale industry applications as CCS, 2020 is nearly here and 2030 is not far away. Long-term predictable frameworks are crucial to boost the speed of needed investments and development. Short-term challenges are important but must not take the focus away from putting long-term policy instruments in place.
In order to ensure large-scale deployment of CCS, ZERO considers a mix of instruments indispensable: at the core, an instrument giving sufficient incentive to make business cases for CCS viable and trigger investments in deployment and innovation. For industry to embark on large-scale investments, a long-term predictable framework is needed. The best policy instruments for up-scaling of CCS deployment to emerge from this analysis are a CCS certificate system combined with an appropriate EPS. The certificate system finances the cost for CCS deployment through a cost-sharing model, while the EPS sets a very clear regulation, stopping investments in high-emission conventional solutions.
Recommendations include:
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A mandatory certificate system
o Obligate suppliers of fossil fuels to do CCS as a share of their supply.
o Certificates given for production of clean products with CCS.
o Flexibility for suppliers to do CCS themselves or to cooperate and trade CCS certificates from other projects.
o Cooperation between countries, both developed and emerging countries.
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Regulation for EPS for new and existing power plants and industry, in combination with the certificate system.
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Government taking the post-storage, long-term liability for CO2, de-risking storage cost for all CCS projects. In the short term a special government involvement and funding focus is important to establish sufficient early stage storage capacity.