On 23 January 2008 the Commission proposed a directive to enable environmentally-safe capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the EU, Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide as part of a major legislative package: "Climate action and renewable energy package", focussing on fighting climate change and promoting renewable energy. The proposals demonstrate that the targets agreed last year are technologically and economically possible and provide a unique business opportunity for thousands of European companies. These measures will dramatically increase the use of renewable energy in each country and set legally enforceable targets for governments to achieve them. All major CO2 emitters will be given an incentive to develop clean production technologies through a thorough reform of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) that will impose an EU-wide cap on emissions. The package also includes an EC Communication called "Supporting Early Demonstration of Sustainable Power Generation from Fossil Fuels", which stimulates the demonstration of CCS in power plants. The proposed enabling legal framework for carbon capture and storage (CCS) link is below:
A press release on the package of proposals is available here
Consultation on the Impact Assessment of the enabling legal framework for CCS Background
On 10 January 2007, the Commission adopted a Communication on "Sustainable Power Generation from Fossil Fuels: aiming for near-zero emissions from coal after 2020", outlining the Commission's intention to bring forward an enabling legal and policy framework for carbon capture and geological storage. The scope of this framework, and the options for establishing it, were examined on 8 May 2007, in the Working Group on carbon capture and geological storage set up under the European Climate Change Programme II. The objective of the examination in the ECCP II Working Group was to consult Member States and stakeholders (industry, NGOs, research and academia) on the scope of the impact assessment, the options for managing risks, removing barriers and promoting deployment, and the process for assessing the impacts of the options. Many of CO2NET members have been involved in and contributed to this consultation process.
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