Bellona: EU officials speak in favour of CCS
Guenther Oettinger joined Norwegian Minister for Energy and Petroleum Tord Lien in speaking at the 2nd EU-Norway Energy Conference on 25 September in Brussels. While discussion centred on the capacity, seen by some, for Norwegian gas to enhance European energy security, Commissioner Oettinger pointed out that this is particularly true in combination with CCS (full speech transcript here). Minister Lien echoed these views in restating Norway’s commitment to delivering CCS. Commissioner Oettinger also took the opportunity while attending a European Parliament committee meeting the day before the energy conference to reiterate the need to look at technologies like CCS in relation to the EU’s 2030 framework.
On the same day Member of the European Parliament and long-standing CCS supporter Jerzy Buzek underscored the need to make tough decisions on Europe’s energy future – including reconciling coal use with CO2 emission reductions (see the interview with CommentVisions here). As the new chair of the Parliament’s industry, research and energy committee (ITRE), Buzek will be leading the work of steering these issues through the Parliament for the next five years.