STRATEGY CCUS

The STRATEGY CCUS project aims to support the delivery of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in eight regions identified as promising because they feature strategic elements, such as clusters of industry, potential CO₂ storage sites, opportunities for CO₂ usage, and options for hydrogen production and use.

The International Energy Agency has underlined the need for the rapid delivery of CCUS technologies if countries are to meet emissions reduction targets laid out in the Paris Agreement on climate action.

Our results will be used to create local development plans and business models for each of the regions, which will be shared through tailored events with target stakeholders, including potential CCUS developers.

The plans will identify CO₂ transport corridors between local CCUS clusters of industry, which connect with North Sea CCUS infrastructure, in order to reduce costs and contribute to a Europe-wide CCUS infrastructure.

We will also provide methodologies and examples of best practice in areas such as stakeholder engagement, lifecycle analyses and techno-economic assessments.

Previous attempts to deliver CO₂ capture and storage in Europe have shown the challenges involved in gaining social acceptance despite the technology’s necessary role in climate action. This has slowed the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) when efforts should have been stepped up.

The STRATEGY CCUS project will, therefore, specifically focus on social acceptance and stakeholder perceptions in order to learn – and attempt to address – the varying needs and concerns of all relevant groups in the early stages of CCUS development.

Our objectives will include:

• Identifying key stakeholder groups at regional, national and European level
• Mapping stakeholder perceptions of, attitudes towards and interest in CCUS
• A scoping exercise of relevant issues and needs
• Exploring the use of participatory formats at regional, national and European level, including regional stakeholder committees
• Delivering recommendations for stakeholder participation beyond the lifetime of the project

The development of CCUS in Southern and Eastern Europe, and their integration into a European infrastructure, requires both economic and environmental assessments in order to be sustainable. The aim of this work package is to support the decision-making process by defining common methodologies for:

• “Bankable” CO₂ storage capacity
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Multi-regional Input Output (MRIO) analysis
• Techno-economic assessment (TEA) designs

Both LCA and MRIO assessments will involve close collaboration with those working on the Planning aspects of this project, where detailed plans and techno-economic evaluations for CCUS will be drawn up for different regions and timescales. Each region will also benefit from a comprehensive diagnosis of potential business models for the different CCUS options, and insights to guide CO₂ storage requirements. Knowledge and data exchange between the project partners will be in important part of this work.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837754.