With hundreds of new coal-fired power plants planned within and outside Europe in the coming decades, pressure is growing on the EU to commercialise and export carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to prevent a massive rise in global CO2 emissions. But difficult financing issues remain unresolved.
EU policymakers and key stakeholders met several times this week (26-30 May) to discuss CCS, including at a 27 May meeting organised by the competition service of the Commission, a 27 May Friends of Europe roundtableexternal and a 28 May workshop organised by UK Liberal MEP Chris Davies.
Davies, who wants all existing fossil fuel power plants to be retrofitted with CO2 capture and storage technology by 2025, is calling for a moratorium on new plant construction after 2015 unless the facilities are able to prevent 90% of their CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere (EurActiv 07/05/08). The MEP has organised a further workshop in the Parliament devoted to CCS financing on 3 June.
But this week's apparent surge in interest in CCS did not produce any signs of a breakthrough on key financing issues. Instead, the discussions revealed a range of diverging views (see positions).
Full article
