Norway to lead Euro 80m CCS programme

Five CO2 laboratories will be built in Norway as part of a major investment programme to investigate carbon capture and storage.


A total of Euro 79.6m (730m Norway Kroner) is being invested in 15 joint venture laboratories across Europe.

Almost a third of the money will be used in Norway, which will be the host country for the effort and the Norwegian city of Trondheim will be home to a third of the labs.

The project was given the green light by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), which was set up by the European Commission in 2002.

Funding will be given by nine European countries, but as the host nation, the Norwegian authorities will be expected to contribute between 30% and 50% of the total project cost.

The international effort will be coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF)

“The laboratories will play a decisive role in ensuring that the world will be able to put into operation efficient technology for the capture, transportation and storage of CO2 from coal- and gas-fuelled power stations and industrial plants,” said Professor Arne Bredesen, from the university.

The five labs will include an absorption lab, with technology for scrubbing CO2 from flue-gases with the aid of chemicals, and a storage technology lab.

The other ten CO2 labs will be built in Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Croatia and Denmark.

All of the labs will be equipped with a completely new generation of equipment and will be available to scientists from all EU and EEA countries.

Kate Martin

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