KOPEHHAGEN: Denmark on Wednesday inaugurated a project to store carbon dioxide 1,800 meters below the North Sea, becoming the first country in the world to bury CO2 imported from abroad.
The CO2 graveyard, where the carbon is injected to prevent further warming of the atmosphere, is located on the site of an abandoned oil field. Led by British chemical giant Ineos and German oil company Wintershall Dea, the “Greensand” project is expected to store up to eight million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
In December it received an operating license to start the pilot phase. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that are still in their infancy and are costly aim to capture and then sequester CO2 to combat global warming. About 30 projects are currently operational or under development in Europe.
But unlike other projects that store CO2 emissions from nearby industrial sites, Greensand sets itself apart by sourcing the carbon from afar. The CO2 is first captured at source and then liquefied – in the case of Greensand in Belgium – and then transported, currently by ship but possibly via pipelines, and stored in reservoirs such as geological cavities or depleted oil and gas fields.
At Greensand, the carbon is transported in special containers to the Nini West platform, where it is injected into an existing reservoir 1.8 kilometers below the sea floor.
Once the pilot phase is complete, the intention is to use the adjacent Siri field as well. The Danish authorities, which are aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045, say this is “a much needed tool in our climate toolkit”. “It will help us achieve our goals. Because our subsurface has a storage potential that far exceeds our emissions, we can also store carbon from other countries,” says climate minister Lars Agaard said.
The North Sea is ideally suited for this type of project, as the region already has pipelines and potential storage locations after decades of oil and gas extraction.
“The depleted oil and gas fields have many benefits because they are well understood and infrastructures are already in place that are most likely to be reused,” he said. Morten Jeppesendirector of the Danish Offshore Technology Center at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
Near the Greensand site, France’s TotalEnergies is also exploring the possibility of burying CO2 with the aim of capturing five million tonnes per year by 2030.
In neighboring Norway, carbon capture and storage facilities are already in operation to offset domestic emissions, but in a few years the country will also receive tons of liquefied CO2, brought in by ship from Europe. As Western Europe’s largest oil producer, Norway also has the largest potential for CO2 storage on the continent, particularly in its depleted oil fields.
The CO2 graveyard, where the carbon is injected to prevent further warming of the atmosphere, is located on the site of an abandoned oil field. Led by British chemical giant Ineos and German oil company Wintershall Dea, the “Greensand” project is expected to store up to eight million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
In December it received an operating license to start the pilot phase. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that are still in their infancy and are costly aim to capture and then sequester CO2 to combat global warming. About 30 projects are currently operational or under development in Europe.
But unlike other projects that store CO2 emissions from nearby industrial sites, Greensand sets itself apart by sourcing the carbon from afar. The CO2 is first captured at source and then liquefied – in the case of Greensand in Belgium – and then transported, currently by ship but possibly via pipelines, and stored in reservoirs such as geological cavities or depleted oil and gas fields.
At Greensand, the carbon is transported in special containers to the Nini West platform, where it is injected into an existing reservoir 1.8 kilometers below the sea floor.
Once the pilot phase is complete, the intention is to use the adjacent Siri field as well. The Danish authorities, which are aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045, say this is “a much needed tool in our climate toolkit”. “It will help us achieve our goals. Because our subsurface has a storage potential that far exceeds our emissions, we can also store carbon from other countries,” says climate minister Lars Agaard said.
The North Sea is ideally suited for this type of project, as the region already has pipelines and potential storage locations after decades of oil and gas extraction.
“The depleted oil and gas fields have many benefits because they are well understood and infrastructures are already in place that are most likely to be reused,” he said. Morten Jeppesendirector of the Danish Offshore Technology Center at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
Near the Greensand site, France’s TotalEnergies is also exploring the possibility of burying CO2 with the aim of capturing five million tonnes per year by 2030.
In neighboring Norway, carbon capture and storage facilities are already in operation to offset domestic emissions, but in a few years the country will also receive tons of liquefied CO2, brought in by ship from Europe. As Western Europe’s largest oil producer, Norway also has the largest potential for CO2 storage on the continent, particularly in its depleted oil fields.
