The report entitled ‘A Trans-European CO2 Transportation Infrastructure for CCUS: Opportunities & Challenges’ provides an overview of CO2 transportation, particularly in industrial clusters, and highlights the importance of developing dedicated business models, as well as enabling policy framework, for CO2 transportation.
This report is particularly relevant in the context of the European Green Deal, as CO2 infrastructure is crucial to deliver large-scale decarbonisation across industry and energy sectors, which will be necessary to achieve climate-neutrality. In addition, the report analyses the technical specifications and challenges for CO2 transportation in Europe and identifies the current legal barriers.
CO2 transportation and storage projects are already up and running in Europe and have been for more than 20 years. Now, policymakers must send a strong signal in support of crossborder CO2 infrastructure in Europe and encourage industry to invest in the technology. Crossborder CO2 infrastructure would provide industry across the EU with fair access to CO2 storage, enabling member states to decarbonise and creating a level playing field. CO2 infrastructure must become a core competence of the EU as a driver of decarbonisation, outlined in the European Green Deal, and as a caretaker of the single market.
Dr Graeme Sweeney, Chairman of ZEP, commented, “Investing in large-scale deployment of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, connecting CO2 emitters with storage sites, is a no-regret investment opportunity. This is crucial for the cost-efficient decarbonisation required to meet Europe’s climate-neutrality target by 2050. The CO2 infrastructure would also enable a clean hydrogen economy and deliver carbon dioxide removals.”