Polluters Desperate to Clean Up Drive Demand for Carbon Capture

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2021-07-21 11:30:06

(Bloomberg) -- As the European Union gets serious about fighting climate change, experts are fielding more calls than ever from polluters seeking help to trap, process and store their carbon emissions.

The business of capturing emissions from industrial plants that make everything from cement to energy will get a push from the European Commission’s ambitious climate plan and a continued rally in carbon permits, as widely forecast by analysts, traders and utilities. While the industry isn’t profitable yet, operators expect it will be soon.

One of the first projects to come online will be Northern Lights, the transport and storage component of Longship, the Norwegian government’s full-scale carbon capture and underground storage project. Some of the technology for the facility, set to be ready in 2024, will be supplied by Norway’s Aker Horizons Holding ASA. Royal Dutch Shell Plc is one of the investors, together with Equinor ASA and Total SE.

“There are a number of clients that see this as a much easier alternative to carbon capture and storage,” Valborg Lundegaard, chief executive officer of Aker Carbon Capture ASA, said in an interview. “They know nothing about carbon capture and storage. They might be a small waste-to-energy provider, and entering into this landscape as it looks today is extremely complex.”