Briefing: CCS for Industrial Sources of CO₂ in Europe

Most global focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been within the power generation sector. However, over the last few years, and specifically since the G8 summit in 2010, the profile of CCS for industrial applications has been raised.

In Europe, emissions from industry make up about a quarter of total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To achieve targets matching International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations for limiting global warming, all sectors of the economy will be required to make significant reductions in emissions. Early estimates suggested that the application of CCS to the largest emitters in refineries, iron and steel and cement industries could make a major contribution – 270-330 million tonnes per annum – to CO2 emission reductions in Europe (Rootzén, Kjärstad, Johnsson, 2011). This briefing summarises the most recent published report addressing the scope for CCS in European industry (ZEP, 2013), adds further information from public sources and gives some new analysis of the implications.