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What a year we have had!
What a year we have had! I always try to remind people that we are in the middle of an
energy and climate revolution. It's happening as I write and you read this message.
We need transitional management now. The energy sector is where the printed media
sector was 10 years ago. Some figure out the “zeitgeist” of what is happening and
manage to help shape the new reality and business models, whereas those who
remain in denial lose.
You might say that jobs are at stake—but we also see the emergence of a new
renewable industry that will provide good jobs. It is clear that many processes used by the industrial sector
cannot take place without creating emissions, which makes CCS a useful and viable solution. This is particularly
true for cement, steel, aluminium and fertilizers, and has become a new focus for CCS technology. It's about the
European capacity and capability to produce.
The same applies to carbon-negative solutions, where we bring down the stock of CO
2
in the atmosphere.
This was a favourite card to play during the Conference of the Parties meeting in Paris in December (COP21).
The models showed that a massive roll out of carbon-negative solutions was critical to achieving the 2-degree
target, not to mention the 1.5-degree target that we are now striving to make. In this case, we are talking about
more than 10 gigatonnes of biogenic CO
2
being stored in the years beyond 2050.
CCS is thus in great demand for all fuels and sectors including the bioeconomy and the circular economy.
We also see that various regions are taking different stances on CCS, especially with respect to their choices of
fuels and sectors. So who will take the challenge and shape the future? I hope that we can take part in showing
new possibilities.
Our centre has been a strong supporter of the idea of carbon-neutral natural gas, and more recently we have
become intrigued by the re-emergence of combining natural gas with hydrogen production, export and storage of
CO
2
. At least we can then be sure that there will be prospects
for long-term markets.
Unfortunately, the countries of the world are still behaving
as if we have oceans of time to act, when we in practice
have almost no time to mitigate global warming. The COP21
agreement was important, but the difficult part comes now –
we must act. The Norwegian Centres for Environment-friendly
Energy research address this need to act. BIGCCS is a vital part of the toolbox and we hope the spirit and the
DNA of BIGCCS will continue in a new centre under the FME programme. There is no time to lose; we have high
expectations for what CCS can do for the planet. With our distinguished partners I am confident we can and will
make a difference in combating global warming.
Chairman of the Board
Dr. Nils A. Røkke
You might say that jobs are at stake—
but we also see the emergence of
a new renewable industry that will
provide good jobs.