Using the North Sea for carbon capture could be the key to hitting Europe-wide energy efficiency targets, a new report has claimed.
Policymakers were today told of the North Sea’s huge potential to become a shared CO2 storage resource, helping Europe both meet its climate change targets and become a low-carbon economy.
The report, launched today by Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) in Brussels, has urged North Sea countries to work together and develop a joined-up strategy for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
A CCS project in Peterhead is the preferred bidder for a £1billion UK Government competition to develop carbon capture technology.
Depleted oil and gas fields under the North Sea are thought to be able to store up to 70billion tones of CO2 – around 350 years worth of UK emissions – with the report calling for countries to cooperate over the next five years to drive the development of possible projects.
“The deployment of CCS on industrial CO2 sources and power generation is essential if Europe is to meet its long-term climate change objectives, retain jobs and improve low-carbon competitiveness,” said SCCS director Professors Stuart Hazeldine the University of Edinburgh.
“But CCS is impossible without the availability of CO2 storage. The recommendations set out in our report identify how Europe can unlock the North Sea as a shared CO2 storage resource.”
The report – which can be read here – recommends a series of actions for the next five years, including targeted policy and financial incentives for oil and gas businesses investing in the sector, roll-out of pre-commercial CO2 injection projects in the North Sea, and inclusion of CCS in European climate and energy policy.
The launch of the report comes as European environment chiefs meet to debate a renewed push for carbon capture storage technology. One of the committee’s proposals is an EU-wide target to capture and store 10 million tonnes of CO2 each year by 2020.
Chris Bryceland from Scottish Enterprise added: “We already know that the offshore geography of the central North Sea means CCS offers huge potential for Scotland.
“This report highlights how the scale of this extends across Europe, and this potential, coupled with our existing oil and gas capabilities, ready supply chain and existing infrastructure means there is a real opportunity for Scotland to be at the forefront of developing CCS.”
For example, if Peterhead was developed as an import facility, it could receive 4 million tonnes of CO2 a year, creating more than 500 jobs with additional gross value added of more than £140 million, he said.
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