Page 19 - European Energy Innovation - spring 2019 publication
P. 19
Spring 2019 European Energy Innovation 19
CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGE
Carbon capture and storage
to fight climate change
By Paula Abreu Marques (pictured), Head of Unit, Renewables and CCS policy, European
Commission, DG ENER
Just before COP24 in Poland
last year, the European
Commission published its
strategic long-term vision for
a prosperous, modern, competitive
and climate neutral European
economy entitled “A Clean Planet for
All”. Having put in place a regulatory
framework to meet the climate
and energy objectives for 2030, the
Commission looks towards 2050
and analyses different pathways to
meet the target of a net-zero carbon
economy as a contribution to the
international effort to limit global
warming to well below 2°C.
The modelling and analysis which
underlie the “Clean Planet for
All” communication show that
carbon capture and storage (CCS)
technologies will need to play a
key role in achieving the climate
objective. Despite current and past
uncertainties in the economics and
the public acceptance of CO2 storage,
CCS is amongst the main options
for reducing emissions of large point
sources, particularly for big industrial
sites for which no alternative
mitigation measures exist, such as
cement-making. If coupled with
sustainable biomass, CCS can play
a significant role in creating negative
emissions. In the long term, carbon
capture can contribute to sector
coupling, for instance when captured
CO2 is transformed into synthetic
fuels with renewable energy.
Given the imperative to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions at a faster
pace and to develop all technologies
that can contribute to this effort,
the European Union was ready over
the last ten years to support CCS
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