COP29: CCS is essential to reach net-zero emissions by 2050

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a critical tool for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, complementing renewable energy and efficiency improvements by addressing sectors that are challenging to decarbonize. For CCS to reach its full potential, supportive policies, robust infrastructure, and collaboration between public and private sectors are essential.

SINTEF is participating at COP as an independent observer, committed to advancing sustainable climate and energy solutions. To support this goal, we are providing advice to climate negotiators on 15 key areas with the potential to significantly reduce emissions.

• SINTEF’s  advice for COP29: Technology for a Faster Global Climate Transition

Recommendations for implementing CCS

• Implement CCS where other solutions cannot realistically be implemented within a reasonable time period. CCS is an addition to other sustainable solutions, not a replacement. Even if significant progress is made within renewable energy and energy efficiency, CCS will still be essential to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Concerning the final declaration on phasing out uncleaned or unabated fossil fuels, specify when emissions are to be cleaned (so-called “rapid abatement”) and the degree of cleaning required in order for those emissions to be considered “cleaned” or “abated”. The use of Best Available Technology should serve as the starting point for determining the level of purification. Furthermore, it is important to consider not only fossil fuels but also fossil input factors and other materials that contribute to emissions. This approach ensures that emissions from industries such as aluminium and cement production are also addressed.
• Require that oil-producing countries with access to both the necessary expertise and sites offer CO₂ storage at the same order of magnitude as their exported emissions.

Problem

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) consists of a range of technologies and processes for capturing CO₂ and storing it permanently in geological formations, resulting in significant reductions in CO₂ emissions. Hundreds of climate scenarios have been modelled by the IPCC, and CCS plays a crucial role in almost all of the ones that achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement. CCS is the only technology that can decarbonise certain industries, such as cement and chalk production, waste-to-energy, and some metal production. There are also sectors that are more challenging to decarbonise, where CCS will be incredibly important to our ability to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

In order for CCS to fulfil its potential as a climate change mitigation solution, arrangements must be made for transporting and storing several gigatonnes of CO₂ per year by 2050 globally. Therefore, standards and predictability must be developed to enable CO₂ to flow in a network between different operators and across national borders. Politicians must also find the best possible balance between a regulated and free market for this. CCS is also completely necessary for producing clean hydrogen from natural gas (so-called “blue hydrogen” or “low-carbon hydrogen”).

Realising CCS relies on industry being deeply engaged in research projects that develop the necessary practical solutions. New business models must be developed to ensure that implementation takes place as quickly as possible. Neither states nor companies can solve the climate crisis alone; subsidies will be needed from both public and private capital.

Despite the fact that CCS is a relatively mature technology with great potential, implementation and scale-up are too slow. For example, Norway currently stores approximately 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ per year from the Sleipner and Snøhvit fields, while using exported Norwegian gas produces approximately 315 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. This shows a significant mismatch between the measures implemented for meeting our climate targets and the extent we need to do so.

Solution

CO₂ capture, transport and storage (CCS) is essential to reach zero emissions by 2050. In principle, CCS can remove close to all CO₂ emissions from the use of fossil or biogenic materials, be it fuels such as coal, oil or other processes that release CO₂. Although the technology is mature, financial incentives such as higher quota prices will be crucial to increasing the capture rate.

Even with great progress in renewable energy production and energy efficiency, CCS will be needed to reduce emissions from sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, such as heavy industry and energy production from fossil fuels. CCS also provides the foundation for capturing CO₂ from, for example, bio-based processes (BECCS), the air (DAC), or the ocean (DOC). In addition, capturing CO₂ from bio-based processes, such as biogas and waste-to-energy, can make these processes climate positive – i.e. they capture more CO₂ than they emit.

Norway is a pioneer in CCS technology, with almost 30 years’ experience in safe CO₂ transport and storage on the Sleipner field, and 17 years on the Snøhvit field. Capturing and transporting CO₂ is comparable to other process industries, and involves handling a gas that is neither explosive nor toxic in normal concentrations. Thorough mapping and monitoring of the storage locations during and after operation is essential to ensure safe and permanent storage.

The Northern Lights project, which is the storage part of Longship: the Norwegian government’s first national CCS value chain project, is Europe’s first large-scale storage hub for CO₂. In the project’s first phase, the project will transport and store up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions from various industrial facilities on the mainland. In the next phase, Northern Lights aims to store five million tonnes of CO₂ under the seabed each year, with the possibility of further expansion into nearby geological formations. Longship provides us with a template for how public-private partnerships can close the gap between pilot projects and full-scale implementation. Public investment at an early stage enables companies to join the CCS transition and reduces the overall cost in the long run.

CCS also plays an important role in the production of low-carbon hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced from natural gas with the capture and storage of CO₂. A functioning low-carbon hydrogen market is crucial in our work to achieve a net-zero society. CCS can help realise this infrastructure in a cost-effective way, which in turn, will support the transition to a renewable energy future.

Main COP29 recommendation: International research communities and industrial partners are developing technologies to reduce emissions and advance the energy transition, and we strongly recommend establishing a global North-South R&D program with open, competitive calls to ensure a fair, accelerated path to a sustainable economy.