The Northern Lights solution can be replicated for all emitters (waste-to-energy, hydrogen, cement and steel producers and other CO2 emitters) as well as for all communities who would like to be involved in the decarbonization effort.
To date, 15 projects are being examined in Europe. No such project is currently under consideration in France.
Climate-related issues
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has described CCS technology as essential in order to achieve a worldwide “net-zero” carbon balance by the second half of the 21st century.
Today, approximately 40 MT/year of CO2 is stored geologically. In its 2020 “Sustainable Development” scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that these volumes must be increased to 850 MT/year by 2030 and 5.6 GT/year by 2050 in order to meet the Paris Agreement objective.
In France, the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC) has set a target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Its reference scenario, “With Additional Measures” (Avec Mesures Supplémentaires – AMS), forecasts 15 MT/year of CCS (5 MT/year in industry and 10 MT/CO2 in bioenergy). ADEME has selected 3 industrial centers of interest for CCS deployment (Dunquerke, Le Havre-Rouen, and Lacq), with a combined potential capacity of 24 MT/year.
Conditions for the project’s success:
In the project’s later stages of development, it will be possible to increase capacity at the site in accordance with market demand from major CO2 emitters across Europe.
The main conditions for the success of the project and of the CCS industry as a whole, are as follows:
- The net-zero emission aims of governments, companies and communities
- The conversion of these aims into quantified targets and action plans
In addition, value must be created for CO2 through:
- Recognition of the added value of low-carbon products (cement, steel, chemicals, etc.)
- Decarbonization incentives based on regulation as well as carbon taxation