News
Publish date: November 19, 2009
Written by: Veronica Webster
News
The Netherlands has an on- and offshore capacity to store a total of 1.6 gigatonnes of CO2 under the GESTCO project (download PDF to right) and has committed itself to developing CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology (CATO) in order to cut national greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
Other CCS projects with onshore storage sites are in the early planning stages.
The Shell Barendrecht project will be divided into two stages. The first will involve injecting CO2 into a small field in Carnisselande which can hold up to 0.8 megatonnes of CO2, followed by the injection of CO2 into the comparatively larger field in Ziedewij which can hold up to 9 megatonnes.
Shell anticipates that the first stage will take up to two years and will allow for evaluation prior to the final and more decisive stage.
The project has been met some opposition from the local government and residents in Barendrecht due to fears over health and safety.
Prior to Amsterdam’s announcement giving the green light Shell’s project, the local council said it would appeal to the Ministry of Environment if it gave the go-ahead.
The Ministry of Environment has explained that it hopes the Barendrecht project will dissipate any doubt regarding the safety of CO2 storage.
“Communication with and amongst all stakeholders – civil society, academia, local and national authorities as well as industry – is essential if CCS projects are to be successful,” says Dulce Boavida from Bellona.
“The process of social engagement with the local community must begin even before the project is formally planned and announced, so that they understand the situation and can make informed decisions regarding the desirability of CCS,” she said.
“Once the Barendrecht project is proved a success there may be greater understanding amongst local communities and some of the public outreach methods used by Shell in Barendrecht – as well as those used by other utilities elsewhere – may subsequently prove more effective”, she said.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.