Carbon Capture Storage Europe
CCS Europe
CCS Europe exists to impress the urgency of the situation upon policymakers at EU and national levels.
ID: 963194792688-03
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Dan Jørgensen (Commissioner)
20 Nov 2025 · Carbon capture and storage in Europe
Response to Legislative initiative on CO2 transportation infrastructure and markets
11 Sept 2025
CCS Europe welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions call for evidence on the forthcoming legislation for CO transportation infrastructure and markets. The capture of CO2 for permanent storage or use with a climate benefit is recognised by the European Commission as essential to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Its 2024 Communication on Industrial Carbon Management highlights modelling that suggests 280 million tonnes of CO2 will need to be captured annually across the Union by 2040. Yet, carbon capture requires the development of an entire value chain, given that it needs to be safely transported and eventually permanently stored. This includes developing a transport network that matches our need for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and reflects the varying needs of all emitters large, small, clustered and remote. Today, the CO2 transport infrastructure to safely transport and permanently store the CO2 in storage sites is missing at large. The progress for deployment has been slow, due to uncertainty around future demand, lack of an EU-wide approach to market-design, encompassing a clear policy and regulatory framework, as well as a lack of an associated funding pathway. Every day that passes by brings us closer to 2040, narrowing the window to successfully deploy the needed CO2 transport infrastructure and setting up a vital part of the EUs CCS value chain in time. Without swift and coordinated action, Europe risk falling short of its climate commitment. CCS Europe therefore calls on the European Commission, in close collaboration with Member States, to take the necessary measures to unlock the EUs potential for CO2 transport infrastructure as soon as possible. The proposed European regulatory framework for CO2 transportation can be a vital starting point, but it must be reinforced by complementary measures. Please find attached the key recommendations by CCS Europe on how to unlock the EU's potential for CO2 transport infrastructure.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation on the operation of the Innovation Fund - 2025
8 Jul 2025
CCS Europe thanks the Commission for this opportunity to contribute to the evaluation of the Innovation Fund. Carbon capture technologies are indispensable for the EU to reach net-zero by 2050. For some industries especially those with process emissions, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCS) technologies are the only solution to decarbonise. The European Commission estimates that by 2040, around 250 Mt of carbon dioxide (CO2) will need to be captured and stored to reach the GHG emissions reduction target. This will require massive investments in the development and roll-out of the technology. However, today only a handful of CCS projects are in operation within the EU. Since its inception in 2020, the EU Innovation Fund has been an important tool to fund the deployment of CCS projects at a large scale. Nonetheless, to unlock the full potential of the EU Innovation Fund in supporting the development and deployment of CCS technologies to decarbonise Europes energy-intensive industries, certain changes must be considered. Please find our comments attached.
Read full responseResponse to Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act
8 Jul 2025
CCS Europe welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the call for evidence of the upcoming Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act. In his Competitiveness Report (2024), Mario Draghi recognises that Europes energy-intensive industries are already today global leaders in developing innovative technologies especially in CCS. For Europe to remain competitive, Draghi highlights that we need to address high energy prices and double-down on decarbonisation in a cost-efficient way. CCS has proven to be one of the technologies that can support these objectives in a number of different ways and sectors. This is particularly the case for process emissions, but has other applications in industrial sectors, where CCS can be the most cost-efficient way to decarbonise. We understand that the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act (IDAA) seeks to build on these conclusions and address the bottlenecks related to decarbonisation. If designed effectively, the IDAA has the potential to play a pivotal role in strengthening Europes energy-intensive industries and unlocking the full potential to develop and deploy CCS technologies. Please find our detailed comments attached.
Read full response8 Jul 2025
CCS Europe welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the call for evidence on the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System. Please find our detailed comments attached. Carbon capture technologies are indispensable for the EU to reach net-zero by 2050. For some industries especially those with process emissions, carbon capture and storage technologies are the only solution to decarbonise. The European Commission estimates that by 2040 around 280 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) will need to be captured and stored to reach a Greenhouse Gas emission reduction target of 90%. Mario Draghi stated in his competitiveness report that the decarbonisation pathway of EU energy-intensive industries should include CCS as it provides Europe with the possibility to decarbonise and become more energy secure. So far, the deployment of CCS technology in Europe has been slow and no commercial scale industrial carbon management projects are currently in operation. The fundamental reason is the absence of incentives or regulations that reward or mandate the capture and storage of CO2, meaning that there is a distinct lack of a business case, at this stage. If regulation and financial supports are in place, the conditions for viable decarbonisation projects will improve. However, given that achieving 100% emissions reduction remains technically and economically challenging, the ETS needs to be pragmatic, and take into consideration the negligible emissions that might remain after decarbonisation technologies are deployed. Integrating CCS-based removals, Bio-CCS and direct air capture and storage (DACCS) could potentially lead to an increased demand for these industrial permanent removals, depending on the prevailing allowance price. To provide this pragmatic approach, we therefore support the incentivisation of carbon removals through its interaction with the EU ETS, without undermining necessary emission reductions. CCS Europe therefore supports the following: Definition of residual emissions: Industries with process emissions are facing particular challenges and these challenges should be recognised. Interaction of negative emissions: We recommend a careful interaction of permanent negative emissions in the ETS, in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the ETS. Safeguarding the ETS: The Commission needs to safeguard the integrity of the EUs carbon market and take a very careful approach in linking other carbon markets and should not include international carbon credits within the ETS. Earmark ETS revenues: The revenue of the ETS should be used to support the decarbonisation of the relevant industries. Given the needs for massive scale-up of CCS, we call on the Commission to ring-fence funding for the technology.
Read full responseResponse to Oil and gas producers' contributions to the 2030 Union CO2 storage objective
16 Apr 2025
CCS Europe welcomes the opportunity to comment on the European Commissions approach to the CO2 storage target under the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), and to help guide its work on implementing the CO2 injection capacity obligation for the oil and gas sector. This draft Delegated Act goes in the right direction and certainly will play a significant role in boosting the EUs storage capacity and enabling Europe to reach its annual injection capacity target. We urge the Commission to quickly finalize this delegated act without reducing the quality of the content and to ensure that the deadline of June 30, 2025, for obligated companies to submit their plans is maintained. Each day passing by brings us closer to 2030, narrowing the window to successfully deploy the storage projects and setting up a vital part of the EUs CCS value chain. According to the International Energy Agency, developing a CO2 storage project from inception to completion can take anywhere from 3 to 10 years, depending on the availability of geological data and other critical information. Given this lengthy process, swiftly implementing detailed obligations is essential to ensure that storage solutions are available in time. Therefore, we urge the Commission to accelerate its efforts and guarantee the comprehensive and effective implementation of the CO2 storage targets. Regarding the content of the proposed Delegated Act, CCS Europe asks the Commission to address the following points: (1) Exemptions (Article 3): Unfortunately, the proposed Delegated Act does not specify the maximum thresholds of oil and gas production under which a company would be exempt from the obligation to contribute. This information is an essential point for the legislative act and should have been disclosed as part of the public consultation for transparency reasons. Further, we recognise that it is important to avoid imposing burdensome obligations on small European producers if the benefits are limited. However, excluding producers above the threshold simply because their market share is too small could hinder the achievement of the target by reducing the number of contributors supporting the development of CO2 storage projects. (2) Reporting requirements (Article 5): The outlined reporting requirements are essential for oil and gas companies to demonstrate their progress. In addition to being key to monitoring the implementation of the legislation, they also have the potential to become critical for the Commission to obtain the information and data on storage and transport of CO2 it needs to build the upcoming regulatory framework for transport. Therefore, it is important that the level of obligation in this article is not diminished. In addition, we urge the Commission to strengthen the article by incorporating a requirement for oil and gas producers to provide (i) additional information on the current maturity of projects and data acquisition related to those projects as well as (ii) greater clarity on the uncertainty and methodology surrounding their storage capacity projections. These are necessary failsafe to ensure the viability of storage potential projections and can act as an early warning system against inaccuracies in storage capacity predictions. (3) Penalties (new Article): It is vital that Member States impose significant disincentives for non-compliance with the obligation to contribute to the CO2 storage target. Currently, the Net-Zero Industry Act allows Member States to set these penalties, but the Commission has not specified how these penalties should be determined. Establishing clear guidelines for penalties is crucial to ensure that oil and gas companies make the necessary investments to meet their obligations. CCS Europe therefore urges the Commission to define how Member States should set their penalties and to establish a minimum requirement. This provision is essential to uphold the integrity of the obligation and ensure its effective implementation.
Read full responseMeeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and
20 Mar 2025 · How do we meet CCS aspirations?
Response to Greenhouse gas emissions savings methodology for low-carbon fuels
25 Oct 2024
CCS Europe welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Commissions draft delegated act on the definition and certification of low-carbon fuels. Today, industry is responsible for 20% of the EUs total emissions. To reduce these emissions, CCS has a key role to play especially in decarbonising production processes that release unavoidable process emissions. Those processes are entirely dependent on CCS technology to reach net-zero and maintain their competitiveness. In addition, hydrogen is often used as a feedstock for industry, and as such, industry needs a baseload supply of hydrogen. However, until hydrogen storage is sufficiently developed, and as the cost of intermittent renewable hydrogen production remains prohibitive, this baseload cannot be guaranteed through an electrolyser running on renewables electricity alone. The Court of Auditors has pointed out in its recent report dated July 2024 that Europes renewable hydrogen ambitions in terms of production volumes set in the most recent Green Deal legislation are unlikely to be achieved by 2030. However, the EU and its industry cannot afford to wait for renewable hydrogen production to be scaled-up before decarbonizing their industrial production processes, if it wants to maintain competitiveness and sustain current and future jobs. Therefore, CCS will have a key role to play in providing a reliable, steady and low-carbon hydrogen feedstock supply for the industry, at least in the short term where hydrogen storage remains insufficiently available. CCS Europe welcomes the recognition of carbon capture and storage in the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions for low-carbon fuels. Emissions that are captured and stored remain underground safely for several millennia and therefore can be considered as effectively avoided emissions. It is important that the final definition of low-carbon fuels maintains the recognition of CCS as a key tool for decarbonising industrial production processes and feedstocks such as hydrogen. Further, the ramp up of low-carbon hydrogen should be supported with targets for low-carbon products and molecules as well as a swift development of CO2 transportation, access to storage infrastructures and a timely implementation of the key points formulated in the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy of the EU Commission published in February 2024.
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