“The Nordic Region should invest heavily in carbon capture and storage”
Carbfix-kupoler vid Hellisheiði-kraftverket nära Reykjavik suger koldioxid ur luften.
The Committee backed a proposal from the Conservative Group calling for the Nordic governments to work together on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
“To meet our climate goals, we must use all available tools. We have to cut emissions. That goes without saying. But that’s not enough. We need to do more, and CCS technology is part of the solution,” says Cecilia Tenfjord Toftby, a Swedish MP and Conservative Group member.
“We don’t have the time nor money for each of us to come up with national solutions. We need to draw on each other’s strengths to achieve our goals. That is proper Nordic synergy!” she says.
Necessary under the Paris Agreement
CCS is the collective name for various ways of filtering carbon dioxide from power plants and factories, compressing it, and storing it by pumping it into the bedrock.
CCS is now considered necessary if the world is to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In its latest climate report, the UN Climate Panel highlighted CCS as part of what it will take to put the brakes on global warming.
Unique Norwegian-Dutch agreement
All of the Nordic countries have CCS strategies or major development projects. One of the ideas being discussed is the possibility of pumping carbon dioxide into empty oil and gas deposits.
Norway recently concluded a unique commercial agreement with the Netherlands to store carbon dioxide 2,600 metres below the seabed in the North Sea.
The Committee for a Sustainable Nordic Region, which consists of MPs from all of the Nordic countries, wants the Nordic Region to be a leader in CCS.
Set common goals
They want to start by mapping where the Nordic Region stands right now in terms of research, development of new technology, markets and commercial potential.
After that, the countries should draw up a joint strategy and make rational use of each other’s research and resources.
“The Nordic Region is the best in the world at developing new technology. Considering the prominent role played by each of the countries in research and development, it was easy to reach agreement on the proposal. We also reached cross-party agreement to deploy all possible means to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and ameliorate the other effects of climate change. When we work together, we can accomplish more than as individual countries,” says Emilia Töyrä, Swedish MP and member of the Social Democratic Group.
The Committee will now submit the proposal to the Session of the Nordic Council for final consideration.
