Carbon capture and storage labelled ‘farcical’

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the EU have been turned into a ‘farce’ by failures in funding programmes and a lack of clarity about what they aim to achieve, according to a report from the ENGO Network on CCS – an advocacy group made up of non-government organisations from around the world.

Collapsed funding efforts, combined with local institutions taking too long to pick projects to support, led to many bidders dropping out of the programmes, the report says. And technical and political problems have dogged any projects that have got off the ground.

The report calls for a revised political strategy on CCS, with clear goals for what each policy is trying to achieve. It suggests defining targets for the amount of CO₂ that should be captured, and that CCS projects should be extended to gas-fired power stations as well as coal.