North Sea nations hold key for low-carbon economy

The North Sea nations have the skills and storage capacity to deliver a carbon capture and storage industry to transform Europe’s industry and power sectors, according to a new report.

The report says the nations are capable of providing a least-cost transition to a low-carbon future and a reliable electricity supply while helping to secure economic resilience.

The report was released by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage, or SCCS, the largest carbon capture and storage research group in Britain, a partnership of the British Geological Survey, Heriot-Watt University, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh.

The report calls for specific policy support and wider political ambition within the European Union. Its release on Thursday coincided with a European Commission meeting in Edinburgh to discuss a strategic vision for energy infrastructure in the North Sea basin.

The report, A CCS future for Europe: Catalysing North Sea action, offers a 10-point plan for policy-makers, highlighting the need for robust business models for CO2 transport and storage in the North Sea basin, as well as targeted funding to develop regional carbon capture ‘clusters’ of emitters.

It also calls for carbon capture and storage, or CCS, to be fully recognised financially as a high-value climate change technology “unique in enabling the decarbonisation of thermal power generation and essential industrial processes”.

Professor Stuart Haszeldine, SCCS director, said Europe faced tough targets to reduce carbon emissions by 2030: “As the EU considers policy options to drive CCS deployment in line with 2030 climate and energy objectives, it is essential that this starts with CO2 storage,” Haszeldine said.

“A review of the CCS directive recommended a Europe-wide target of 220 million tonnes a year for CCS deployment by 2030 because of the genuine and urgent need for carbon capture and storage in Europe.

“Our new report strongly supports this finding and shows how the North Sea region can accelerate delivery of CCS across many nations. We specify actions to deliver essential infrastructure, and pinpoint incentives to support CO2 transport and storage as well as develop cost-effective CCS clusters in regions across Europe. Now is the time to transfer skills from a challenged oil industry to revolutionise carbon storage.”

The report says there are lessons that Europe could learn from developments in North America where a CO2 pipelines infrastructure and the use of CO2 in enhanced oil recovery – as a profitable business model that also stores carbon – is driving the delivery of CCS for both industrial clusters and power generation.

“If Europe wants to remain a leader in tackling climate change, and maximise the contribution of its science and industry expertise to international action, then it must overcome the business barriers to CCS deployment,” Haszeldine said.

Among other recommendations, the report calls for capture-to-storage CCS cluster plans for Europe’s industrial regions; and to provide specific funding through the EU or member states to construct regional carbon capture clusters; to reward CO2 transport and storage with clear pricing mechanisms; to undertake analyses to identify tariff incentive mechanisms for CCS; and develop a CO2-enhanced oil recovery plan for the North Sea.

The report says CCS needs to be valued by the EU and its member state policy-makers as a “high-leverage” climate change mitigation technology, unique in enabling the decarbonisation of thermal power generation and essential industrial and manufacturing processes.

But effective business models are needed to support the development of CO2 transport and storage, in parallel with policy mechanisms that aim to encourage CO2 capture from large emitters. The minimum capture target should be 220 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, with low-carbon CCS electricity tariffs.

“For CCS to deliver at least-cost it needs to be undertaken on a large scale, with clusters of carbon emitters sharing CO2 transport and CO2 storage infrastructure. CCS insurance against carbon pricing is essential to the survival of multiple industrial sectors across the EU,” it says.

CCS can secure industrial output and millions of jobs as well as enhancing energy security and providing back-up to intermittent renewable energy. CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery, or CO2-EOR, offers a profitable route for the UK and Norway to diversify offshore employment and solve infrastructure blockages for CCS, the report says.

“If regulated properly, the carbon storage benefits of CO2-EOR easily outweigh perceived negatives of extra carbon production.”