16/2/2007
Commission Launches Consultation on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage

As part of its measures to fight climate change, the European Commission launched an on-line public consultation on carbon dioxide capture and geological storage (CCS) this week. CCS is a technology that has the potential to reduce significantly carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. It involves capturing emissions at source and putting them in underground geological formations like oil and gas. If successful, geological storage could remove 80-90% of the CO² emissions from power plants, according to UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates.

CCS technology could be part of the global efforts to reduce the costs of stabilising CO² concentrations in the earth's atmosphere by 30% or more. Carbon capture and storage is one of the measures addressed by the Commission in its energy and climate package of 10 January 2007 to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and combat climate change. The consultation is part of the Commission's preparations of a legislative proposal to regulate carbon capture and storage in a sustainable way.

      The Commission will examine the risks associated with each aspect - capture, transport and storage - with a particular emphasis on possible negative effects on the environment. The Commission will then propose how best to proceed. The consultation runs until 16 April 2007 on the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/ccs/consult_en.htm