The challenging path towards realising industrial carbon management

On 10 April, the sixth Carbon Storage Dialogues took place with the theme Realising Industrial Carbon Management. Over 200 participants considered the issue of how the next step can be taken in actually realising large-scale CO₂ storage in the Netherlands and Europe. Globally, the mood is bleak and stormy, but in the conference centre in Nieuwegein the mood is optimistic yet nuanced. “It is happening, but much more is needed.”

COO Yolande Verbeek of EBN does not want to be sombre about the current geopolitical climate, the high energy prices and the uncertainty in the field of legislation and regulations that lead to worries and doubts in many a boardroom about investing in CO₂ storage, CO₂ reuse and carbon removal. The solutions are too promising for that, the developments too spectacular and the urgency too great. Because to achieve the climate objectives, it is necessary to capture, transport and store CO₂. She also sees a role for CCS linked to electricity production.

Europe and the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank

For Daniel Kitscha, Investment Policy Officer in the Low Carbon Solutions team of DG CLIMA (European Commission), it is obvious; capturing, transporting and storing CO₂ is crucial for European industry to remain competitive and to achieve climate goals. With a series of measures, Europe is trying to stimulate industry to apply CCS to directly reduce emissions. For example, there is the Clean Industrial Deal that wants to make Europe the first net zero continent in 2050 and the Net Zero Industrial Act that prescribes storing no less than 50 million tons of CO₂underground by 2030. However, Kitscha sees an obstacle: “There is currently no demand for the stored CO₂, which means that it is mainly a cost item for emitters.” Kitscha therefore expects a lot from the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, which must release 100 billion euros over the next 10 years for industries to invest in sustainability, including the storage of CO₂. Kitscha is optimistic about the set of measures, especially because he sees CO₂ storage really increasing on a European scale. More and more projects are being developed. Between now and 2030, 18.6 Mtpa of CO₂ will be stored in Europe.

On a Dutch scale: no target, but concrete projects

Although there is currently no hard target formulated on the Dutch scale for CO₂ that must be stored, Niels Berghout, CCS policy officer at the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth (KGG), endorses the importance for the industry, which uses 45% of Dutch energy, to invest in decarbonisation. According to Berghout, there are roughly three ways to make things more sustainable: making existing industries more efficient, building new green industry and developing a new industry that makes the energy transition possible. CO₂ storage can make the largest contribution to CO₂ reduction in the short term. Around 9 to 10 Mt in 2030, when the capacity of the current and expected transport and storage projects such as Porthos and Aramis are added together. Furthermore, the ministry expects that the Netherlands can reduce 20-25 Mt of CO₂ via Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), also known as negative emissions.

With the rules from Europe and several incentive measures, such as SDE++ subsidy (8 billion euros from the Climate Fund), the Dutch government wants to stimulate the development of all kinds of technologies for capturing, storing, transporting and using CO₂ emissions and for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.

The infographic, but about CO₂

During the sixth Carbon Storage Dialogues, the COO of EBN took the opportunity to focus the now traditional EBN infographic on the theme of CO2 and to present it to the two representatives of the European Commission and KGG. This CO2 infographic clearly explains how large the emissions are, how extensive the reduction potential of CCS is and which projects really make a contribution. Kitscha received this infographic with interest and complimented those present in the room on the progress: “The Netherlands is a leader in this field.”

Carbon Management is cross-border

CO₂ storage, or rather, the realisation of Industrial Carbon Management is not just a national matter. The value chain transcends national borders. An example: the billions recently announced in Germany to decarbonize industry will also have an effect in our country. The development of the Delta Rhine Corridor is viewed with hope. The international energy company Eni is also investing in the development of CO₂ storage throughout Europe and worldwide. Another example: CO2next, the terminal that expects to be operational before the Aramis project, of which it is a part, wants to offer industries that are not directly connected to a pipeline the possibility of transporting and storing liquefied CO₂ by ship. And that network also transcends national borders.

Finally, the Joint Venture SLB Capturi operates on a European and even global scale, with several tangible projects as a result. A highlighted CCU project nearby is the recently completed Twence Waste-to-Energy plant in Hengelo, where captured CO₂ is reused. Although these types of projects and initiatives make a fundamental contribution to the reduction of CO₂, the European ambition remains a huge challenge. “To prevent industries from standing still due to uncertainty or too many risks, government support is needed to eliminate those risks,” says Pim van Keep of SLB Capturi. Fulco van Geuns (Project Director, CO2next) adds optimistically: “Of course we will develop a market for CCS and CCU. I am convinced of that, if we continue to see the need for it globally.”

Project Porthos

Helen Miley, Project Execution Director of Porthos is excited. Because Porthos is in the construction phase. It is one of the first large-scale projects in CO₂ storage in this advanced phase. Miley can show images of how the digging is actually done. And how pipes are put into the ground. And yes, there were periods when it was thought that it would not work. There were obstacles, there were delays, but through good cooperation between the various partners, including EBN, and the necessary courage, we managed to get the project off the ground. Her motto: “During the delays that the project suffered, it is important to remain transparent and to stay in contact with all contractors.”

Learning from Denmark

A little further north, the Greensand project started. The Danish project has attracted a lot of interest, as evidenced by the many questions to Mette Fürstnow (Project Greensand Manager) from the Nieuwegein conference room. About why ships were chosen instead of a pipeline, whether there is a business case or whether it is mainly a subsidized project, or whether the collaboration with Belgium has led to a nascent European value chain. For Mette Fürstnow it was like this: “We wanted to start, to learn, to map out the risks and reduce them, to gain experience.” There is a lot of capacity in Denmark to store CO₂ underground, and the government wanted to invest in it, as did the Danish industry. Fürstnow expects the first CO₂ to be injected at the end of this year. And yes, the pilot project in which CO₂ was transported from the port of Antwerp and injected into Danish soil is paving the way for an international value chain. With concrete projects in hand, Mette Fürstnow and Helen Miley have two tips. The first: don’t be put off by the total climate challenge. And the second: tackle one problem at a time.

Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)

An interesting business case beckons, as the Danish Mette Fürstnow assures us. Certainly when the emissions from biogas are stored, then they are negative emissions. And they can be traded, for example to large users of data who want to go green. Microsoft has been actively working on this for several years. As one of the frontrunners, Microsoft was already net zero in 2012. The company also wants to compensate for historical emissions in the future. Microsoft uses Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies for this. And, as Aizo Wiebenga (Industry Advisor Energy & Sustainability, Microsoft) promises, even now that the use of data is increasing significantly due to the use of AI, Microsoft will continue to adhere to its objectives. Marinus Tabak is COO of electricity producer RWE and warns the audience and the industry in general against the scaling back of climate ambitions, which is fuelled by the ‘interesting times’ in which we currently live. For Tabak it is clear: We need to go the extra mile to achieve climate ambitions. His company has the ambition to operate net zero by 2040. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) plays a crucial role in this. According to Tabak, these types of solutions should gain momentum. “Companies that are already investing in this, such as Microsoft, are super brave.”

A step further: Geological net zero

As if the climate challenge is not challenging enough: at the end of the afternoon, the ears of those present in Nieuwegein will have to be pricked up for an underexposed perspective on the concept of ‘net zero’. Professor Myles Allen (Principal Investigator, Oxford Net Zero) will discuss the concept of ‘geologic net zero’. There is a limit to what our natural environment can compensate for in terms of CO₂ emissions, including those from the past. The pursuit of net zero is therefore not sufficient to slow down climate change. At the end of the day, this seems to require even more effort to solve the already complex puzzle. However, the principle underlines the necessity and the role of CO₂ storage in achieving the geological variant in addition to net zero. According to the calculations of the British professor, CO2 storage can be at least 25% of the solution to achieving the climate objectives. Globally, approximately 1% of investments in the energy transition currently go to CCS. He therefore finally endorses the opening words of this sixth edition of the Carbon Storage Dialogues: a lot is certainly happening in the field of CCS, but much more is needed.