News

European Commission introduced guidance documents under the EU CCS Directive

A stakeholder meeting on the draft guidance documents under the EU Directive 2009/31/EC on the Geological Storage of CO2 – also known as the CCS Directive – took place on July 15th at the European Commission in Brussels. Four draft guidance documents intended to aid Member States as they transpose the directive into national law before June 2011 were presented and discussed. The documents are now subject of public consultation and amendment procedure; they will be adopted in November 2010. The documents can be found at the EC website.

European Monitoring and reporting guidelines for CCS adopted

The European Commission adopted on June 8th guidelines for monitoring and reporting emissions from the capture, transport and geological storage of CO2 (CCS). The implementation of guidelines was a requirement under the third phase of the EU’s emissions trading scheme emissions trading scheme (ETS) of 2013-2020. The implementation of monitoring and reporting guidelines to provide a methodology for quantifying emissions from each stage of the CCS chain were needed to render possible the inclusion of CCS in the ETS. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:155:0034:0047:EN:PDF

EU agrees billions to fund CCS and innovative renewables

The European Commission and Member States approved a proposal on how to use 300 million emission allowances from the EU emissions trading scheme’s (EU ETS) 'new entrants reserve' to finance demonstration projects of CCS and innovative renewables. The European Commission will set aside 300 million allowances at European level, which will be sold by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and then distributed to support projects in member states. The first call for project proposals is expected in early summer 2010. In the first round, 8 CCS project and 34 innovative renewable energy projects are foreseen to be financed. More information at: http://www.euractiv.com/en/climate-environment/eu-agrees-billions-fund-renewables-ccs

CO2NET EAST finished the EU-funded period but will continue into 2010

The CO2NET EAST project successfully completed all its goals set within the 3-year EU-funded project. Final projects reports were delivered to the European Commission in time. Based on the overall positive appraisal of project achievements so far, project partners decided to continue their activities for another year, i.e. until 30 September 2010, using own institutional resources and the Support Fund filled by project sponsors. This means, among others, that national project websites will be kept up-to-date, bringing latest news from the CCS branch. Final activity report of the EU-project can be viewed here.

News from Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum - new Technology Roadmap

The international Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a voluntary climate initiative of developed and developing nations focusing on development of improved cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide for its transport and long-term safe storage, adopted a new Technology Roadmap. The new Roadmap was published on the CSLF website in August 2009 and can be found at the address http://www.cslforum.org/publications/documents/CSLF_Tech_Roadmap_081809.pdf.

ETP ZEP launched new website

European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ETP ZEP) launched a brand new website on 1 August 2009. Featuring a wealth of information, new sections, and dedicated animations on the need for, and workings of, CCS and the safety of CO2 storage, the new online platform should reinforce ZEP’s position as the EU’s authority on CCS and support our objective of successfully deploying and implementing CCS. The site also features ZEP’s new logo and branding. A dedicated online area for the members of the ZEP community is available as well. http://www.zero-emissionplatform.eu

Stakeholder Consultation on CCS & renewables demos funding

On 29 June 2009 the European Commission held a stakeholder meeting on the modalities for the allocation of 300M allowances under the New Entrants' Reserve of the Emissions Trading Directive 2009/29/EC to CCS demonstration projects and to innovative renewables. Presentations from the meeting are available here.

EU Directive on geological storage of carbon dioxide published

Directive 2009/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the geological storage of carbon dioxide was officially published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 June 2009. The directive defines the legislative framework for safe and reliable storage of CO2 in geological formations. Member states have now 2 years to implement the directive into their national legislation.

European Council and Parliament adopted financing for CCS

On 18 May 2009 the European Commission has launched a call for proposals covering key energy infrastructure projects incl. CO2 capture and storage as part of the implementation of the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR), on which the Council and the Parliament recently reached agreement. Project promoters are invited to submit their proposals by 15 July 2009. The Commission expects to sign the first grant agreements and decisions before the end of the year. In total nearly €4 billion worth of financial aid will be available, of which € 1,05 billion are intended for 7 CCS demonstration projects. New EU Member States are represented by the Belchatow project in Poland.

News from Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum

The international Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a voluntary climate initiative of developed and developing nations focusing on development of improved cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide for its transport and long-term safe storage, is preparing a new Technology Roadmap. The new Roadmap will be based on the first CSLF Technology Roadmap that was developed in 2004 to identify promising directions for CCS-related research, taking account of the significant changes that have occurred in the period from 2004 to 2008. The document should provide guidance to the CSLF and its Members by describing possible routes to future integrated CO2 capture, transport and storage needs; and indicating areas where the CSLF can add value through international collaborative effort. It is expected to be finalised until June 2009.

A session on Geologic Carbon Sequestration

A session on Geologic Carbon Sequestration took place at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on December 15 -19, 2008. Over 60 oral and 30 poster presentations were attended by over 100 people throughout the day. The abstracts could be loaded here.

European Council and European Parliament approved support for CCS demonstration plants

On 12 December 2008, the European Council adopted a compromise on the ‘climate & energy package. Shortly after that, on 17 December, the package was approved by the European Parliament. This decision included, i.a., adoption of the Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide and a commitment to support the 10-12 European large-scale demonstration power plants equipped with CO2 capture and storage technology and operating by 2015, as proposed in the EU Demonstration Programme for CCS. The funding will be provided in form of 300 million Emission Trading allowances awarded to the demonstration projects. The value of these allowances will depend on the price of CO2 at the carbon market but can be estimated at 6 – 9 bill. €. Last but not least, the MEPs also adopted a revision of the EU's Emission Trading System that should lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 21 % compared to reported 2005 levels and introduces partial auctioning of the allowances from 2013. European Parliament press release…

ZEP Unveils Proposal for EU CCS Demonstration Programme

At its 3rd General Assembly held in Brussels on 10 November 2008, the European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) unveiled a ground-breaking report for the rapid deployment of an EU-wide CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Demonstration Programme – integrating all aspects of CO2 capture, transport and storage – which would speed up the deployment of CCS in the EU by 10 years and contribute to the commercial availability of CCS by 2020. Press release Speech by EU Energy Commissioner A. Piebalgs

2nd CO2NET EAST workshop on CO2 capture and storage – Bratislava, 3-4 March 2009

After the successful 1st CO2NET EAST workshop on CCS for stakeholders from new EU Member States and Associated Candidate Countries held in Zagreb in February 2007, the CO2NET EAST project is organising the 2nd event of this kind, with the subtitle‚ CO2 Capture and Storage – Response to Climate Change‘. The workshop will také place in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 3-4 March 2009. The registration is open since 1 November 2008. For more information, 1st announcement and Registration form please click here.

World’s first pilot power plant with CO2 capture launched

The world’s first pilot power plant with CO2 capture has begun operations at Vattenfall’s Schwarze Pumpe facility in Germany, State of Brandenburg, on 9 September 2008. The plant is planned to run for at least ten years. The pilot unit with has a thermal capacity of 30 megawatts and Vattenfall has invested approximately 70 million Euro in the construction of the unit.

News from CSLF

News from Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum CSLF_website_posting_2008-05.pdf

CO2 storage at Snohvit started

On 22 April 2008 StatoilHydro started geological storage of CO2 at the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea. Carbon Dioxide is captured from the produced natural gas stream, and, instead of being released into the atmosphere, it is injected into a sandstone aquifer 2600 m deep below the sea bottom. The planned amount of stored CO2 is 700,000 tons per year. Thus, Snohvit is becoming the fourth successful industrial-scale project of CO2 geological storage – after Sleipner (Norwegian part of the North Sea), Weyburn (Canada) and In Salah (Algeria). More information…

Greenpeace against CCS

On 5 May 2008 the non-governmental environmental organisation Greenpeace issued a 44-page report entitled "False Hope", denouncing CCS as a scam helping only the coal industry, not the climate. The report recommends to invest rather into energy efficiency and renewable energy which are, according to Greenpeace and their energy conception called “Energy (R)evolution”, sufficient tools for necessary cuts of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Some other “green” NGOs like World Wildlife Fund (WWF) or Bellona disagree with the Greenpeace position and accept CCS as an important part of climate change mitigation measures. The complete press release by Reuters can be seen here

Kick off meeting of the DeCarBit project

50 participants met in Trondheim, Norway on 6 February for a kick off meeting of DeCarBit project. The project deals with next-generation technology for CO2 capture from coal- and gas-fired power stations, and will contribute to making future technology very much cheaper than the technology that is available for use today. SINTEF is to lead this EU’s latest research project on CO2 capture in coal- and gas-fired power stations. http://www.sintef.no/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=3846&query=decarbit&hiword=decarbit%20

New EU Member States and Candidate Countries will host a series of CCS events in 2008

The year 2008 will be rich in CCS events organised in new EU Member States and Associated Candidate Countries. Starting from the March Clean Coal Technology conference in Krakow and Katowice (Poland), a series of conferences, workshops and seminars is planned. Just to mention the most important ones: CO2NET Annual Seminar in Warsaw (April), workshop "Roadmap to Successful Storage of CO2" organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in Dubrovnik, Croatia (May) and CO2 Geological Storage Workshop prepared by the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers in Budapest (September). In addition, a CCS section is under preparation at the Balkan Geophysical Society congress in Belgrade (October). For more information please visit the Calendar page.

New CCS-focused journal

Carbon Capture Journal is a new international journal published in the UK with a goal of "informing you about developments in carbon capture, storage, and related government policy, in a way which is clear, useful and won't waste your time". On its website http://www.carboncapturejournal.com you can find the first journal issue, subscribe to a free newsletter as well as join a blog (social network site) and find interesting articles.

European Commission proposed a Directive on geological storage of carbon dioxide

On 23 January 2008 the Commission proposed a Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide as part of a major legislative package called "Climate action and renewable energy package". This bundle of documents is focused on fighting climate change and promoting renewable energy...

FP7 Energy Research Information Day

On the 30 November 2007, 4 calls for proposals were launched under the Energy Theme of the "Cooperation" Programme of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development: - FP7-ENERGY-2008-1: a general call - FP7-ENERGY-2008-FET: a call on future emerging technologies - FP7-ENERGY-NMP-2008-1: a joint call with the NMP Theme on materials for energy applications - FP7-ENERGY-2008-RUSSIA: an energy EU-Russia call

Common Technical Training Workshop of CASTOR-ENCAP-CACHET-DYNAMIS

Common Technical Training Workshop of CASTOR-ENCAP-CACHET-DYNAMIS, the 4 major EU-funded CCS research projects will be held in IFP-Lyon on January 22-24th, 2008. The objective of the workshop is to review what has been achieved by the different projects in terms of technology development for CO2 capture (post-, oxy- and pre-combustion) and also in CO2 geological storage (storage part of CASTOR). The agenda, venue, accommodation information and registration form are available at http://www.cachetco2.eu/c2ws/index.html.

CO2NET EAST project successfully concluded its 1st year

By submitting of all required reports to the European Commission, the CO2NET EAST project successfully concluded the first of its three project years. A short summary of 1st-year project activities and plans for year 2 can be seen here.

Paris CCS week in the limelight

In the first week of October 2007 Paris became the spotlight of worldwide CO2 Capture and Storage community. Three important events took part here, attracting stakeholders of all categories - industry representatives, researchers, NGO environmentalists, politicians and regulators. Read more: Paris_CCS_week_in_the_limelight_edmsb.pdf

News from CSLF

Latest information from the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum can be found here

Drilling programme for CO2SINK project completed

drilling activities at WW185, the second observation well are completed. The injection well was completed in June 2007, for the opening event of Ketzin storage site, then the drilling works at two observation wells were commenced (works at the second observation well started in July, 20th). The wells were drilled up to depth of about 800 m in order to reach Stuttgart aquifer formation of upper Triassic. See more at: http://www.icdp-online.de/sites/co2sink/public/news.html

European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants promotes the pilot CCS installations

European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP ETP), supported by the EC, introduced in the first half of 2007 the "EU Flagship Programme", the goal of which is to have in Europe 10-12 industrial-scale power plants equipped with CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology operating until 2015. Besides of this programme, ZEP ETP's activities are much broader; an overview of them can be seen here. All the information on ZEP ETP, incl. strategic documents, meeting minutes etc. are open to public and can be seen on the web.

European Commission continues preparing new legislation and regulatory framework for CO2 capture and storage

EC - DG Environment continues intensive preparations of legislation and regulatory framework for CCS. On 8 May 2007 a consultation meeting of the Working Group on carbon capture and geological storage, set up under the European Climate Change Programme II, took place in Brussels. Member States governments and stakeholders (industry, NGOs, research and academia) are represented in this Working Group. The most important information concerns the EC intentions connected with CCS regulations and legislation: to regulate CO2 capture within the existing IPPC Directive (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control), to leave the transport of CO2 under the jurisdiction of Member States and to adopt a comprehensive regulatory framework similar to the IPCC guidelines for CO2 storage sites. Materials from the meeting are now available online at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/ccs/eccp1_en.htm.

Registration for the "Paris CCS week" open

In the first week of October, Paris will become a centre of the CO2 capture and storage world. Three important events will take place here in these days. On 3 October, the 2nd General Assembly of the European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants will be held. On the same day, the CO2GeoNet European Network of Excellence organises a training and dialogue workshop on CO2 geological storage under the title "What does CO2 geological storage really mean?". The next two days - 4 and 5 October - are reserved for the 2nd international symposium "Capture and Geological Storage of CO2". Registration for all the three events is already open.

First issue of CACHET CO2 newsletter available online

http://www.cachetco2.eu/publications/newsletter.html

Green light given for negotiations at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali

8 June 2007 - Bonn The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Yvo de Boer, welcomed the G8 process on climate change, which calls for a new global agreement under the UNFCCC by 2009. This process was supported by the Group of 5 countries with emerging economies, ie. Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Read more...

2nd Workshop Of The Oxy-Fuel Combustion Network (IEA GHG Network)

took place in Hilton Garden Inn, Windsor, Connecticut on the 25th - 26th January 2007

10th International Network for CO2 Capture (IEA GHG Network)

took place at IFP Lyons France on the 24th-25th May 2007.

3rd Well Bore Integrity Network Meeting (IEA GHG Network)

took place in the La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA on the 12th-13th March 2007

Commissioner Dimas welcomes 2005 reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions and calls for further action

European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas welcomed today's news that the European Union's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 0.7% in 2005 and urged Member States to accelerate structural economic changes to ensure deeper, lasting emission cuts. Read more...

Commissioner Piebalgs launches pioneer underground CO2 storage facility in Germany

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs took part on 13 June 2007 in the official launch of a test CO2 storage facility in Ketzin, Germany. This pilot installation - the first of its kind onshore in saline aquifers in Europe - will provide valuable knowledge on the practical aspects of underground storage of CO2 from power generation. Read more...

European Stakeholder Perceptions of CO2 Capture and Storage - Survey Results Published

Results of the EU-funded survey focused on European Stakeholder Perceptions of CO2 Capture and Storage were published on the ACCSEPT project website. More than 500 stakeholders took part in the survey. You can read a short Press release (link to the text) on this occasion or download the detailed report.

Elsevier launches the first journal dedicated to greenhouse gas control

The International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control addresses much debated topics such as the reduction of CO2 emissions, capture and storage, energy efficiency, and alternative energy sources.

CO2GeoNet Training and Dialogue Workshop on CO2 Geological Storage

will take place in Paris, October 3rd, 2007. For more information contact Dr. Isabelle Czernichowski-Lauriol by e-mail: info@co2geonet.com. Announcement and pre-registration form could be loaded here.

Presentations from the CO2NET East workshop available online

Presentations from the workshop "Carbon Capture and Storage - Response to Climate Change" held in Zagreb on 27 - 28 February 2007 are now available on the CO2NET EAST website

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

The new report "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" of IPCC is now accepted and available on IPCC website.

The European Commission has launched a new website on CO2 capture and storage

The website contains sections "What is CCS ?", "CCS in Europe" and "Links and Documents".

CSLF open workshop was held in Paris during the Meeting of CSLF Policy and Technical Groups

CSLF open workshop was held in Paris during the Meeting of CSLF Policy and Technical. CSLF (Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum) is an international climate change initiative that is focused on development of improved cost-effective technologies for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide for its transport and long-term safe storage...

Drilling works at CO2 underground test storage site in Ketzin started

In the frames of EU FP6 project CO2SINK it is planned to store 60 000 tonns of CO2 in next two years in saline aquifers at depth of over 700 m in Ketzin. On 11th March drilling works started in order to ensure full scale injection and storage activities which are expected to start by the event of official opening & scientific workshop in Ketzin on 13th June 2007...

IPCC adopts major assessment of climate change science

Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) adopted the Summary for Policymakers of the first volume of ?Climate Change 2007?, also known as the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)...

A report on economics of climate change published

The publication The Economics of Climate Change - The Stern Review, written by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the UK government economic service and former World Bank chief economist, is available on the British HM Treasury website...

First Call for Proposals of the 7th Framework Programme published

On 22. Decemeber 2006 the Official Journal of the EU published the first Call for Proposals under the provisional work programmes of the 7th EC Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities and the 7th EURATOM Framework Programme for Nuclear Research and Training Activities...

"Awareness building" workshop on CO2 capture and storage for new EU Member States and Associate Candidate Countries will take place in Zagreb on 27-28 February 2007

Under the title "Carbon Capture and Storage ? Response to Climate Change", a CO2NET EAST project workshop will take place in Zagreb (Croatia) in the end of February...

7th Framework Programme approved

The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) cleared its final hurdle on 18 December when it was adopted by the European Council...