Government support for carbon capture and storage

CO₂ contributes to global warming

CO₂ is a greenhouse gas. These gases cause the average temperature on Earth to increase, and this leads to climate change. Many industrial companies, such as chemical producers, oil refineries and steel plants, have high CO₂ emissions. It is difficult to make their production processes more sustainable. The technologies required don’t yet exist or work very well. 

EU: climate neutral by 2050

The EU and the Netherlands want to be climate neutral by 2050. This means they will not emit more greenhouse gases than can be absorbed.

Carbon capture and storage helps achieve climate targets

A fast transition to using only electricity or green hydrogen is difficult for Dutch industrial companies. That is why the government supports project s aimed at storing CO₂ in empty gas fields under the North Sea. This is called carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The empty gas fields under the North Sea are big enough to store a lot of CO₂ for many years. Permanently storing CO₂ underground means the greenhouse gas does not go into the air. And that helps us achieve our climate goals.

The government has no plans to develop carbon storage facilities on land.

Examples of CCS projects

CCS is being developed in a number of projects in the Netherlands:

• The Porthos project will store captured CO₂ from industrial companies in Rotterdam in an empty gas field under the North Sea. Porthos will have a total storage capacity of 37 megatonnes. That is around 2.5 megatonnes of CO₂ a year for 15 years. The Porthos facility is still under construction. It is due to be completed in 2026.
• The Aramis project will offer CO₂ transport from companies all over the country to several empty gas fields under the North Sea. The pipelines will be able to transport 22 megatonnes of CO₂ per year. Aramis is expected to start operations in 2030.
• The Delta Rhine Corridor project is a collaboration between the Netherlands and Germany. Several companies are working together to develop pipelines to transport CO₂  to Rotterdam and then, using the Aramis pipeline, to storage facilities under the North Sea.
• The Northern Lights project is developing carbon transport and storage as a service in Norway. It has an agreement with the Dutch company Yara, in Sluiskil, to capture and store 0.8 megatonnes of CO₂ per year for 15 years, starting in 2026. The CO₂ will be permanently stored under Norway’s seabed.

Reusing carbon dioxide also helps achieve climate targets

Instead of being stored, CO₂ can be reused. This is called carbon capture and utilisation (CCU). CO₂ can be reused in many different ways:

• in construction materials 
• in chemical production processes
• as fuel
• as protein in animal feed
• in greenhouses, to stimulate plant growth.

For instance, industrial companies in the Botlek area supply CO₂ to greenhouses in nearby Westland. And a waste incineration plant in Duiven supplies CO₂ to horticultural businesses in the eastern Netherlands.

The government helps companies store or reuse CO₂

• The government provides grants for carbon capture and storage  or reuse, for instance through the Renewable Energy Grant Scheme (SDE+).
• The government can also help with the permitting process.
• The National Growth Fund helps growers make their production processes more sustainable, including by capturing, storing and reusing CO₂.
• State holdings like Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are helping to develop the infrastructure for carbon storage or reuse.

Risks of carbon storage and reuse

CO₂ is present naturally in the atmosphere. It can be dangerous in high concentrations because it displaces oxygen. But the chance of CO₂ escaping from empty gas fields is very small. These fields held natural gas for millions of years without it leaking.

And the pipelines to transport CO₂ must meet very strict requirements to make sure they won’t leak. They are also subjected to regular safety checks, carried out by an independent party.

Permits required for transporting and storing CO₂

Companies need to have a permit to transport and store CO₂. To get this permit they must meet strict safety requirements, which are laid down in the Mining Act (in Dutch). The State Supervision of Mines (in Dutch) monitors compliance with the Mining Act. 

Capturing CO₂ from the air

CO₂ that has already been released into the air can still be captured and then stored. This process is called carbon removal. It is a new technology and the government needs to study how it could be used most effectively in the Netherlands.