Large-scale CCS transport and storage networks in North-west and Central Europe

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the measures that can be used to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere in Europe. Of the total CCS chain the transport infrastructure may be the most planning and guidance-intensive part during the development of large-scale CCS. The EU FP7 CO(2)Europipe project aims to pave the road towards large-scale, Europe-wide infrastructure for the transport and injection of CO2 from large point sources. The study presented here is part of that project and presents an assessment of the North-west and Central European sources and sinks of CO2; matching of the sources and sinks is performed in order to identify likely future transport routes and the volumes that can be expected to be transported. The results are presented in maps with major transport corridors. The matching shows that, theoretically, sufficient storage capacity is available up to 2050, with the main part located in the North Sea. Aquifers are to play an important part in the storage and thus require early exploration activities. Infrastructure networks will be extensive and pipeline construction will need to be performed at a fast pace between 2020 and 2050 to make sure that transport can occur between the source clusters and the storage fields in time. To achieve this, international co-operation is required since cross-border transport will be inevitable if the EU is to achieve its GHG emission reduction target. Also, necessary legal frameworks for CCS need to be in place in each affected country to allow this process to go ahead. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.