Visit the North Sea oilfield where CO2 is pumped under the seabed

Globally, hundreds of CCS initiatives are underway or in development.

In Europe, several very large-scale projects are advancing in the North Sea region, particularly in Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and UK.

Billed as the world’s first commercial carbon storage service, last August, Norway’s Northern Lights project, began storing CO2 under the seabed off Bergen.

In the UK, a number of carbon capture clusters are under development, including Scotland’s Acorn Project and the Viking project off Lincolnshire.

One reason the North Sea is emerging as a CCS hub, is its oil and gas legacy. After decades of production, the geology of potential storage sites is well explored, says Niels Schovsbo, a senior researcher at the Geological Survey of Greenland and Denmark (GEUS).

There’s also existing offshore infrastructure and technical know-how. That’s one reason his firm is among the first-movers, says Gade.

“[Nini]’s coming to the end of its lifetime,” he says.

“Instead of dismantling everything, we can actually reuse the facilities, the skills, the competencies we have.”