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Virtuous climate ambitions, virtual solutions: Precarious delivery of industrial CO2 capture & storage projects in Norway

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This policy brief looks at the role of Norway's CCS projects and their possible effects on roll-out of CCS projects in Northern and Western Europe. The brief is partly a response to a report by consultancy Atkins on the costs and benefits of the Norwegian CCS project, which has several major shortcomings and is therefore not suitable as a basis for a Norwegian government or parliament decision on investment in a full-scale CCS value chain.

This policy brief looks at the role of Norway’s CCS projects and their possible effects on roll-out of CCS projects in Northern and Western Europe. The brief is partly a response to a report by consultancy Atkins on the costs and benefits of the Norwegian CCS project, as it has several major shortcomings and is therefore not suitable as a basis for a Norwegian government or parliament decision on investment in a full-scale CCS value chain. Capturing the climate, industrial and commercial opportunities of CCS in Norway requires more than the beleaguered EU CO2 price.

The main points of this brief can be summarised as follows:
1) The EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) for CO2 emissions  is not the main driver for climate action in Europe
2) There is a very high societal cost of failure to deliver CCS
3) Without CCS, Norway will not reach its climate targets
4) The Norwegian CCS project is likely to have considerable benefits for Norway’s economy

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