CO2 storage will soon provide raw material for the new economy

In the Netherlands, we know exactly what we do not want: no pollution, no nitrogen, no fossil fuels, no CO2 storage. But if we want to maintain our prosperity, we cannot say ‘no’ to everything. What we see as waste now will soon be a valuable raw material, writes Menno Snel, partner at Hague Corporate Affairs.

Yes, we need to get rid of fossil fuels to counter climate change. But no, this will not happen overnight. The simple fact that 90 per cent of Dutch households still need natural gas for cookers and/or central heating boilers shows that the energy transition is a long-term process. Quitting fossil before there is an alternative means that people will literally be left out in the cold.

CO2 storage as a solution

The urgency of climate change makes it necessary to phase out CO2 emissions faster than we can make businesses and homes gas-free. CO2 capture and storage is therefore a good and necessary part of climate policy. Opponents of CO2 storage fear that in practice it amounts to prolonging the life of the fossil industry. But what is still harmful about fossil if you neutralize the CO2?

Had we had enough time, or started climate policy earlier, ‘carbon capture and storage’ (CCS) might not have been necessary. We can argue at length about all the missed opportunities, but the fact remains that the situation is as it is, and CCS can play an important role in containing global warming.

If we combine CCS with biomass, we can even achieve negative emissions. Trees and other plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis in order to grow. If we then capture and store the CO2 released during the combustion of that biomass, we will have effectively removed CO2 from the atmosphere.

Harnessing carbon storage for a sustainable future

The Netherlands is bursting with (almost) empty natural gas fields. With reasonably simple technical modifications, we can make these suitable for safely storing CO2. The Porthos project now being worked on in the Dutch part of the North Sea is just the beginning.

All the CO2 we will store underground in the coming years or perhaps decades could prove to be very useful. Because while the use of coal, oil and natural gas is being phased out, we need alternative carbon sources. After all, we use ‘fossil’ not only as fuel, but also as raw material for fertilizers, all kinds of plastics and even medicines.

The green chemistry of the future will no longer process oil and gas, but will run on a mix of recycling, biomass and – yes – stored CO2. Seen this way, CCS is a way to make a quick impact with climate policy, but also a building block for a future-proof economy.