The European Commission has given the green light to a €30.2m state aid fund for a low-carbon project run by steelmaker ArcelorMittal in Germany. The project will capture CO₂ from installations and put the remaining flue gases back into the furnaces to generate heat and reduce coke use.

A new collaborative project entitled “Scrutinizing the Impact of CCS Communication on the General and Local Public (Impact of communication)” and led by the German Institute of Energy Research, Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEF-STE) has been launched to develop recommendations for communication strategies aimed at increasing public awareness of CO₂ capture and storage (CCS).

This article „Sundejme si pásku z očí” (in Czech only) by Bellona has been published in Lidove noviny, Czech Republic on February 26 as reaction to an article by Miroslav Zajicek entitled “TOP 5 biggest green non-senses: geological storage of carbon”. The reaction corrects some unfounded arguments mentioned in the original article and tries to put light into why the Czech Republic should be interested in CCS from a broader perspective.

A cross-party bid in the British House of Commons aimed at restricting CO₂ emissions of new power plants through the introduction of an Emission Performance Standard (EPS) was narrowly defeated on February 24^th.

Despite taking on the challenge of decarbonising the EU economy, 60 new power plants are in the pipeline today. In a recent article, James Thornton from environmental law NGO Client Earth discusses the possibility of introducing CO2 emission standards on individual plants at national level in light of current EU legislation as a means to meeting EU emission targets.

A project consortium formed by major Hungarian energy producers and utility companies as well as the Geophysical Institute of Hungary have confirmed their intention for the deployment of CO₂ capture and storage technology at the Mátra Power Plant (situated in northeast Hungary).

SPAIN – CIUDEN - La Fundación Ciudad de la Energía – has announced that Foster Wheeler Energía S.L. will be in charge of the engineering, supply, assembly and commissioning tasks for a Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) Boiler at a plant currently under construction in Cubillos del Sil in León, Northwest Spain. The plant will use two different technologies, pulverised coal and CFB, with the aim to research CO₂ capture through oxy-fuel combustion.

On Tuesday February 2^nd, an overwhelming majority of Member States finally endorsed a European Commission Decision setting out the procedures and criteria for selecting the large-scale projects for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) and innovative renewable energy that will be supported with 300 million EU emission allowances (EUAs), today equivalent to about €4bn but set to be worth more in the future.

CION Draft Final NER300 decision in PDF here.

OSLO – A proposal which calls for an action plan on CCS from large industrial point emissions in Norway will be handled by the Norwegian Parliament the 18th of February

The Carbon Capture Legal Programme (CCLP) was set up in June 2007 to provide an updated, open access to legal resources and policy developments relevant to the analysis of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) across various jurisdictions and for the benefit of all CCS stakeholders.

US President Barack Obama has announced that a new Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force is in the process of being created as part of an overall effort to develop cleaner coal-based technologies.

Following efforts by civil society groups including green German NGO Klima Allianz, GDF Suez and EnBW have finally abandoned a plan to build an 800 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant at Stade, North Germany. The plant was going to be built on the site of Dow Deutschland by 2012. The utility companies involved announced last year that the plant would be combined with a gas driven turbine to produce over 1000 MW.

An inquiry conducted by UK electricity and gas regulator Ofgem anticipates unaffordable future spikes in energy prices. This has, in turn, fuelled concerns over energy security in the medium term. Ofgem highlights five different issues which must be addressed. One of these key points is the uncertainty caused by future carbon prices, which is seen to be delaying and deterring much-needed, wide-scale investment in low-carbon technologies.

MADRID – The Cement Manufacturers Association of Spain (Oficemen) and the City of Energy Foundation (CIUDEN) have signed a cooperation agreement to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) technologies within the cement industry.

A £2bn bid to take greenhouse gases from some of the UK North East’s worst polluters and store them under the North Sea has been announced. The region’s case for carbon capture and storage (CCS) would see pipelines from Teesside and the Alcan factory in Lynemouth, Northumberland, link together and store CO2 under the sea.
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In the second half of 2009 WEC published a collaborative report on CCS in Indonesia produced by the Indonesia CCS Study Working Group in association with the World Energy Council, Shell and PT PLN. Download the full report here.

OSLO Climit, - a Norwegian research coordinator gives an overview of the most recent Norwegian research development within CCS. Link to february newsletter (in norwegian only)

OSLO The IEAGHG January newsletter presents some their 2009 technical reports and among other interesting reading an article on the Australian Otway project and a presentation of a PhD study on techno-economic evaluation of co-fired or fired biomass power plants with CO2 capture. Link to the newsletter

BRUSSELS – Following Micronesia’s challenge of Czech utility conglomerate CEZ’s project to expand the Prunerov coal-fired plant, the Czech authorities have granted the request of undergoing a Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by an independent body in order to assess the impact of the plant extension on the environment.

A new report commissioned by the British Embassy in Warsaw and the Polish research institution demosEuropa Centre for European Strategy offers a detailed analysis of the way forward for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in Poland.

Alberta’s government has started looking at developing guidelines for storing CO2 underground. The government is spending $2 billion on helping industry develop CCS but has yet to spell out the rules of how the gas can be stored in underground reservoirs. “We are fully aware we need to take a look at regulation,” said Bob McManus, spokesman for Alberta Energy.
Read more at Edmonton Sun

METI has in mind a test based on recovery of CO2 from the exhaust gas of a coal-fired power station in Fukushima and storage in the depleted gas field offshore, some 2,000 meters below the sea bottom. It has already conducted a study for installation of a pipeline from the power station to the gas field in 2009.
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BRUSSELS – The US Department of Energy’s (DoE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships programme (RCSP) has published a new manual entitled “Best Practices for Public Outreach and Education for CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Projects.” The manual is based on the experience gained throughout the first six years of the RCSP programme and aims to provide guidance to CCS stakeholders whilst designing and conducting effective public outreach and education activities.

The Norwegian Ministry for Petroleum and Energy has given 1.8 million dollars in support to the UN's organization for industrial development (UNIDO). UNIDO will develop a technology roadmap for CO2-management within industrial processes like production of steel, iron, cement and ammonia, in developing countries. The project has a total budget of 3.6 million. Press release in Norwegian.

BRUSSELS – The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the environmental NGO, has filed an official complaint at the European Commission against Germany due to its failure to first verify the readiness for CO2 capture, transport and storage (CCS) of a new coal-fired power plant in the region of Baden Wurttemburg.

BELCHATOW, Poland – Polish utility company PGE has decided that it will build a lignite-fired unit using CO2 capture and storage (CCS) at the Belchatow power plant. PGE will receive €180 million funding from the EU Economic Recovery Package (EERP).

BRUSSELS – No progress was achieved on including CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) during the UN climate talks in Copenhagen – the so-called COP15 – despite lobbying efforts by countries such as the UK or Saudi Arabia. All eyes are now set on COP16 in Mexico in December 2010.

BRUSSELS – A group of representatives from Dutch NGOs and industry have presented a statement to Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende demanding political action to cut CO2 emissions. The statement emphasises the need for further regulation to stop unabated coal plants whilst introducing CO2 capture and storage (CCS) to ensure carbon neutrality in the power sector by 2025.

BRUSSELS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled the initial details of a “grand loan” of €35 billion, of which €2.5 billion has been earmarked for renewables and CO2 capture and storage (CCS).

OSLO The Top-Level Research Initiative’s sub-program “CO2 Capture and Storage” has launched an announcement of two feasibility studies in order to get an overview of potentials within CCS in the Nordic Region. The aim of the studies is to define possible CCS solutions suitable for realization and to look at the R&D challenges.
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BRUSSELS – Finnish utilities Fortum and Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) in cooperation with the Danish A.P. Moller – Maersk Group have announced a joint CO2 capture and storage project (CCS).