The European Commission’s paper European CO2 Capture and Storage Projects
details commitments made by the European Union (EU) to lowering greenhouse gases through the adoption of a suite of technologies including CCS deployed via a number of projects. The paper provides an introduction and considers the key advantages of CCS technologies and some of the challenges this technology will face. The paper was produced as part of the EU's Framework Program which is the main instrument for research funding in Europe.
The CO2 GeoNet Project is a joint partnership of European research institutions that is focussed on achieving a more coordinated approach to CCS research including through re-alignment of national research programs and the identification of knowledge gaps and formulation of new research projects and tools to fill these gaps.
The CASTOR Project, (CO2 from Capture to Storage), is an European initiative grouping 30 partners (industries, research institutes and universities) from 11 different European countries and partially funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Program. The overall goal of CASTOR is to develop and validate, in public/private partnerships, all the innovative technologies needed to capture CO2 and store CO2 in a reliable and safe way.
Key targets of CASTOR are a major reduction in post-combustion capture costs, to advance general acceptance of CCS and to start the development of an integrated strategy connecting capture, transport and storage options for Europe. The pilot project at the Elsam power station in Denmark opened in March 2006. The work on storage is focussing on the use of different types of storage sites.