A costly $2.6 billion experiment is underway on Norway’s Blomoyna island, involving a network of storage tanks in the North Sea. The project aims to reduce a fraction of Europe’s industrial pollution by pumping carbon dioxide from manufacturing sites into a saline aquifer beneath the seabed. While Germany, Europe’s largest polluter, supports the initiative to aid struggling industries, concerns arise about the potential prohibitive cost and challenges in capturing and storing the pollutant.
The European Union backs a wider use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, envisioning the capture of 450 million tons of CO2 annually by 2050. Germany, in a political u-turn, supports the initiative but restricts its use to specific industrial sectors. The Norwegian Longship project, a $2.6 billion CCS hub, is a pivotal test, signaling a shift from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives like blue hydrogen.
The complex CCS technology isolates CO2 from factory emissions, compresses it into a liquid, and transports it to storage terminals. Northern Lights, controlled by Equinor ASA, Shell Plc, and TotalEnergies SE, aims to connect the Blomoyna terminal with manufacturers across Europe, with the first vessel expected next year.
Despite challenges and failed initiatives in the sector, proponents believe the technology works. While costs remain a hurdle, some manufacturers, like Heidelberg Materials AG, are ready to participate. If successful, Norway anticipates a self-sustaining market within a decade, providing Europe’s industrial sector with a lifeline for the low-carbon era.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, overseeing economy and climate policy, visited a plant involved in the project, expressing a preference for storing CO2 in the earth rather than the atmosphere.
