Norway carbon capture projects are a cautionary tale: Analysis

Although the tech is touted as solution to climate change, study shows problems

- David Fogarty

Governments and fossil fuel giants are pinning their hopes on capturing and storing carbon emissions from polluting industries, to allow them to keep producing more oil and gas while, hopefully, also addressing climate change.

But an analysis of two carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Norway, often touted as success stories, finds that both have troubled histories, and should not be used as models for future CCS projects because the geology of each location is unique.

Indeed, the two projects are a cautionary tale for investors, said the report's author, Mr Grant Hauber, strategic energy finance adviser for the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a United States-based think-tank.

The 62-page study published on Wednesday draws on a wealth of information about the Sleipner and Snohvit projects. The subsurface areas are among the most studied geological fields in both oil and gas and carbon dioxide (CO2) storage globally, the report notes, and over 150 academic papers have been published about the projects.

CCS involves capturing CO2 from oil and gas extraction or power plants and polluting industries such as cement and steel plants. The CO2 is compressed and piped deep underground for long-term storage in certain types of rock formations, such as saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

The technology has long been touted as a solution to climate change, but has proven to be costly, energy-intensive and problematic, with concerns about leaking CO2.