Netherlands, Belgium and Germany must step up cooperation on CO2 infrastructure – company alliance
Clean Energy Wire
A company alliance has called for closer cooperation on the capture, storage and transport of CO2 between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. In a joint letter, the signatories – among them Shell, General Electric, Heidelberg Cement and TotalEnergies -- say that the companies in the industrial cluster spanning the three countries have shared needs and comparable emissions reduction challenges that require a common framework between the countries. “As society relies on industry to decarbonise, the companies rely on the government to ensure the enabling infrastructure. […] We call for a common vision and strategy,” says the letter. The companies say the infrastructure needed to accelerate industrial decarbonisation requires a common legal framework and a blend of private and public financing. “This is both an infrastructural and a climate policy challenge, both a private and a public matter.”
The industrial region in north-western Europe covering the three countries makes up a substantial part of the EU economy for basic materials like steel, cement, aluminium and chemicals, which in total causes 18 percent of EU CO2 emissions, the letter says. A large part of these emissions is difficult to avoid, so neutralising them through carbon capture and storage (CCS) or utilization (CCU) is a strategy to meet net-zero goals. CO₂ can be stored in onshore and offshore geological formations, such as oil and gas fields, unmineable coal beds and deep saline formations in the ocean, or used to create products, such as plastic or chemicals.
