The European Union will have an annual target for carbon capture and storage (CCS) under a new act proposed by the European Commission last month. The Net Zero Industry Act aims to accelerate the production of decarbonisation solutions, with CCS listed among eight strategic technologies.

The act has the broad aim of “simplifying the regulatory framework and improving the investment environment for the Union’s manufacturing capacity of technologies.” As well as measures to incentivise, streamline and harmonise the development of technologies, the act proposes a regional carbon injection capacity target of 50 million tonnes by 2030.

“The emergence of a CCS value chain in the EU is currently being hampered by a lack of CO2 storage sites,” the Commission’s explanatory memorandum noted. “These measures aim at bringing together key relevant assets to establish a single market for CO2 storage services that large-scale CO2 emitters, including hard-to-abate industrial sectors, can rely on to decarbonise their operations.”

The next stage of the legislative process will be the act’s first reading at the European Parliament, where it will be adopted or amended before going to the European Council for its first reading. No date has yet been set for the process.

Incentives to support developing technologies and enhanced access to carbon storage sites would be welcomed by the several initiatives seeking to deploy CCS in the maritime market. Last month the REMARCCABLE consortium announced its two-year, three-phase demonstration project onboard a Stena Bulk MR tanker, investigating operational challenges around onboard CCS and offloading captured carbon dioxide. The consortium includes the Global Center for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD), OGCI, ABS, Stena Bulk, Alfa Laval, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and Deltamarin

Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk, said: “Installing a CCUS system on one of our vessels demonstrates our long-term commitment to technological innovation and sustainability. We intend to use the system beyond the scope of this pilot project, proving to the market what is already possible through collaboration.”