Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/6/2014
The European Union needs to, among other steps, invest in the further development of carbon capture and storage to combat vulnerability in their energy sector due to an overreliance on imports, according to the European Energy Security Strategy released by the European Commission last week. According to the report, 53 percent of all energy consumed in the EU comes from imports, including 42 percent of its coal and other solid fuels. While coal only accounts for 27 percent of electricity generation in the EU, the fuel is “procured from a well-functioning and diversified global market providing the Union with a secure import base,” the report says. While the market for importing coal is more stable and thus more attractive, the burning of the fuel, which emits high levels of carbon, is in conflict with the EU’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the document. “Today, the EU is the only major economic actor producing 50 percent of its electricity without greenhouse gas emissions. This trend must continue. In the long term, the Union’s energy security is inseparable from and significantly fostered by its need to move to a competitive, low-carbon economy which reduces the use of imported fossil fuels,” the report says.
In order to secure a future for coal in the EU energy mix and support energy security across the EU, CCS must be developed, the document says. “Coal and lignite’s CO2-emissions mean that they only have a long-term future in the EU if using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS also offers the potential to further improve gas and oil recovery that would otherwise remain untapped. Therefore, bearing in mind the rather limited uptake of CCS to date, further efforts in research, development and deployment should be made in order to fully benefit from this technology,” the document says.
To meet this goal the document says member states should support demonstration projects for CCS, such as those being co-financed by the New Entrants’ Reserve (NER) 300 programme and the European Energy Programme for Recovery, such as the ROAD CCS project in the Netherlands. The European Commission for its part will “ensure the full implementation and review of the CCS Directive and take a decision on the second round of awards under the NER 300 Programme,” the document says.
