Hanne Lerche Raadal became a member of the CLIMIT Programme Board in 2019. “The work is interesting because we get fantastic insight into all the research and development going on related to carbon management, and as Board members we set out guidelines for future research efforts through proposals for revisions to the programme plan. As someone who works a lot on developing research projects, it’s also been interesting to get an insight into the organisation of and division of work between CLIMIT, Gassnova and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in this field.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“More and more frequently! At NORSUS, we are developing knowledge and methods for sustainability in society by working with companies and the public sector in order to reduce their impact on the environment. For my part, I’ve done a lot of work on environmental documentation and optimisation of products and processes in the areas of energy and waste treatment, particularly wind energy, hydropower, biogas, and waste incineration plants. Our environmental and sustainability assessments are based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, which also is relevant for CCS and CCUS value chain. For example, it can be used to find out for what conditions possible net gains of removing CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, which is a technology that is still in its early stages, might be achieved. We need thorough analyses of the value chains for the new systems we want to create. These analyses need to include energy consumption and other important factors related to different environmental impacts so that we can see the entire environmental impact of the systems we are comparing, which is important for future decision processes.”

Member of the Programme Board of CLIMIT

Hanna Lerche Raadal is a civil engineer from NTNU and with a PhD from NMBU titled ‘Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electricity generation systems. Tracking and claiming in environmental reporting’. She began as a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Sustainability Research (NORSUS), formerly Ostfold Research, in 1996 and since 2020, she has been Head of Research at the Institute. Raadal also holds the position of Associate Professor II at NMBU where she teaches at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management.

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“CLIMIT’s role has been, and must continue to be, to set the innovation and development of future-oriented solutions in motion based on comprehensive documentation. The realisation of carbon capture, transport and storage through the Longship project is a good example of the CLIMIT programme’s vital supportive function. However, at the same time, CLIMIT must also be able to use funds for projects that seem interesting to begin with, but that turn out to be not so promising after all. Research and development are also about discovering things and excluding ideas that are not as beneficial as were intended. We need to figure this out as early as possible in order to avoid making unnecessary large investments. That’s why such knowledge will be useful for pushing forward an area of research that is of vital importance for the world and for humanity.” 

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“The latest revisions to the programme plan mean that efforts will be more focused towards technology development that will help to reduce the risks and costs of full-scale capture and storage projects that are under development. It’s a real priority given the significant emission reductions the industry has to deliver by 2030. There must also be space for research into new capture methods and business models. I also think that it’s a positive that social scientific issues related to how climate and other environmental issues should be handled are being addressed by the programme and that more attention is being given to hydrogen production combined with carbon management, DAC and the value of capturing biogenic CO₂. The green transition isn’t just about technology in and of itself, but also about how we can develop good business models for carbon reduction and removal, including the use of BECCS (Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), CDR (Carbon Dioxide Removal) and similar technologies, all based on comprehensive documentation.” 

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“CLIMIT’s role is to drive research and development that will create the technologies that Norway and the world need to make carbon capture and storage a successful instrument in the fight against climate change. We’ve come a long way, but for the programme to be successful, we need focused efforts for at least the next five years.”

But I would also challenge socioeconomic research communities to contribute their knowledge about what this focus on CCS will mean for value creation in Norwegian society. 

Eystein Leren has been a member of the CLIMIT Programme Board for five years and is pleased that theoretical knowledge about how CO₂ should be managed is being put into practice in industry.

“The work of the Programme Board provides a fantastic viewpoint to follow the development of carbon management technologies and full-scale CCS projects, not just in Norway, but also internationally. The Board provides professional recommendations to Gassnova, the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy about the strategy and direction of the Programme Plan, which is obviously interesting and getting to influence that is a meaningful experience. I would also highlight that the Board’s work is helped by good preparatory work from the secretariat, which, with regard to time spent, makes tasks manageable in an otherwise busy work day.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“Ammonia is produced using hydrogen and nitrogen. Hydrogen used in this process is traditionally produced from natural gas, and the waste CO₂ is emitted into the atmosphere. This called “grey” ammonia. As such, decarbonising ammonia has long been on the agenda for environmental reasons, but for us at Yara Clean Ammonia, the point is also to create a sustainable business from zero-emission ammonia. Because if carbon emissions from the process are captured and stored (CCS), the end product will be “blue”. To make it “green”, it needs to be produced using electrolysis and renewable energy. Our task is therefore to develop new segments in the ammonia market in addition to fertiliser, such as shipping fuel, as energy carrier in power and heat generation, and for long-distance transport of hydrogen. Across all new segments, only low and zero-emission ammonia will be used.

“In our work in developing blue and green ammonia production, we are looking at a number of CCS projects both in the North Sea and in North America. In this manner, the commencement of the Longship project is extremely important for the further development of industrial solutions that, among other things, can cover our and other operators’ needs for storage sites.”

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“CCS represents a technology and value chain that will ensure the transition from fossil fuels to a society based on renewable energy. That’s why CLIMIT has been an important instrument for research and development both at early phases and for industrial projects. Now that CCS is being realised as an industry at full-scale, there will clearly be a need for more efficient and cost-effective technologies that support these efforts. CLIMIT will continue to be extremely relevant if the programme is primarily aimed at meeting this need. I have experienced little disagreement on the Programme Board that this should be the future strategic direction for CLIMIT.”

Member of the Programme Board of CLIMIT

Eystein Leren (59) holds an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Oslo is a graduate of the BI Norwegian Business School. He has worked for over 25 years on projects and business development within gas technology for Norsk Hydro and Yara. In 2019, Yara Clean Ammonia was established as a subsidiary of Yara International, and Leren has a central role in the development of new markets and industries for green ammonia, focusing on ship fuel and energy applications.

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“In principle, anything that could lead to an acceleration in the processes for investment in carbon capture and storage for industry at as low a cost as possible. In my opinion, the risks of depositing CO₂ in geological formations are low, but further documentation of the safety of the reservoirs is still important to speed up CCS efforts.”

“So for some years, we on the Programme Board have both wanted and called for more research into the societal impacts of CCS, that is to say, what significance these efforts will have on value creation and employment in Norway. A limited socioeconomic analysis of Longship has been carried out. However, we need more information – not least for politicians and the general public to understand how important and significant these efforts are for the climate and our common good. It’s possible that CLIMIT’s calls for project proposals have not been clear enough to address this need. I’m therefore taking this opportunity to challenge socioeconomic research communities to develop strong project applications that provide us with the knowledge and analyses we need.”

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“If we are successful in stimulating research and technology development based on experience from full-scale projects in Norway, Europe and the USA, the CLIMIT programme will also be able to fulfil an important mission in the years ahead. For the CCS industry, process learning will be tremendously important going forward.”

 

Source: Horisont Energi (EURONEXT: HRGI)

CLIMIT has supported the CCS work at Haugaland Næringspark

The infrastructure is already in place in the area, with access to fibre, electricity, water, and sewage, and a large harbour basin with deep-sea quay ideal for the Errai project. The CO₂ terminal will receive CO₂ from both European and Norwegian customers, including from the planned CO₂ terminal in the Port of Rotterdam.

For more informasjon about the Errai-project

 

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy appointed Jan Gabor as a member of the Programme Board of CLIMIT, and he attended his first meeting in October. “It was both pleasant and very motivating to be invited, and I look forward to making a contribution,” says the newest member of the Board.

“I think the most interesting thing will be to get a close-up view of how the authorities and the various technical disciplines are approaching the management of CO₂, and to examine the many competent applications for support for technology development. So for me, this position will involve a great deal of useful learning.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“Mo Industrial Park is now installing a pilot plant for capturing CO₂, where we plan to run a test campaign over six months using flue gas from Elkem Rana and SMA Mineral. The project, which is supported by Gassnova through CLIMIT Demo, uses technology from Aker Carbon Capture, and will be the first of its kind in the world for emissions from furnaces in the metal industry. The project will provide the necessary knowledge to be able to proceed with planning a full-scale facility to capture and store CO₂. The project is also looking at possible links to CCU, i.e. the use of CO₂ as a raw material in industrial processes.”

“We are also working on a project to use hydrogen in connection with a new furnace being built by Celsa Armeringsstål which will phase out CO gas and reduce CO₂ emissions by 60,000 tonnes per year. Replacing fossil energy with green hydrogen at the rolling mill in the industrial park puts the company on track to reach its climate goals of a 50 per cent reduction by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040.”

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“The short answer is that CLIMIT needs to help bring about technological solutions that significantly reduce CO₂ emissions. The goal of 55 per cent lower emissions by 2030 is very challenging, so we need to make best use of the funds CLIMIT has at its disposal.”

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“I believe CLIMIT should give rather greater priority to national initiatives. That means providing support for the technology development that is crucial to realising projects that are now in planning. It is important to identify where in these projects the technical aspects can be improved; no two emission points are exactly the same and there is a high degree of innovation and technology development in every case. CLIMIT’s role is to stimulate technology development, but in order to achieve emission reductions in the industry that make a difference, the government funding agencies must be provided with sufficient resources to ensure that oven-ready projects can actually be implemented. This is where I see the biggest gap when it comes to achieving the demanding national targets for reducing emissions.”

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“There will be a great need to create solutions for storing CO₂ that are technically appropriate for the individual major emission points in Norway. For those located by a harbour, systems for transport and storage should in principle be easier to establish than for those that are not. But in any event, the storage aspect should be central to CLIMIT for years to come. At the same time, we also need to look at solutions that can help us to establish capture facilities in all sorts of places in Norway, where offshore storage may not be an available solution.”

Sveinung Hagen became a member of the Programme Committee in 2016. “The most interesting part is the discussions we have when we need to recommend profiles and directions to Gassnova, the Research Council of Norway and Norwegian authorities for projects that need CLIMIT support. I think the key to the success of CCS going forward is the commercialisation and standardisation of solutions that industries think it is in their interests to adopt, and therefore research communities must be motivated to develop useful technology for both major and minor capture projects alike. I’ve found that there is a great deal of agreement in the Programme Committee on this.”

To illustrate this point, he points out that the development of CCS technology at Heidelberg Materials’s cement factory in Brevik is the project that has received the most support from CLIMIT. “It’s technically demanding, and the contributions from CLIMIT have been vital for the realisation of the project,” he explains. 

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“Over the last 15 years, CCS has been my focus at Equinor. It all started back in 1996 when the company began capturing and injecting CO2 in connection with gas production in the Sleipner gas field with exceptionally good results and with a hope of making CCS a commercially viable focus area. My role was to lead geological research and exploration until I became an advisor for the unit working on developing a storage market two years ago. Last year, Equinor announced its ambition to store 15-30 million tons of CO₂ per year before 2035, primarily in the North Sea basin.”

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“CLIMIT’s role is to facilitate the adoption technologies for the realisation of carbon capture and storage at full-scale and for more efficient future solutions.” Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the IEA have been clear that we cannot achieve our climate goals without decarbonising industry and energy production and adopting CDR (Carbon Dioxide Removal) technologies. But if we are to succeed, we need far more intensive research and development of new technology, which is where CLIMIT comes in.”

“From my point of view, CLIMIT has a key role in supporting CCS research from a societal perspective. We need to know more about public attitudes towards CCS as a phenomenon and a part of the fight against climate change, as well as about employment and value creation opportunities. With this knowledge available, it will be easier to prevent any conflicts around these projects and to improve the regulatory framework for the safety of carbon storage in geological formations, for example.”

Member of the CLIMIT Programme Committee

Sveinung Hagen has a PhD in Geology from the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) and works as a carbon storage advisor at Equinor. He began his career there at the Equinor offices in Harstad in 1999. After eight years working on projects in exploration and extraction of oil on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and in the Middle East, he switched to CCS in 2007 when the then Statoil merged with the Norsk Hydro oil and gas division. He was tasked with researching the field of carbon storage integrity to verify the safety of storage in geological formations before he moved to his current position as an advisor for Equinor in its CCS unit in 2020.

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“CLIMIT must continue to push research and development of technologies that reduce the costs of CCS. I also think it’s important for researchers to thoroughly examine how a growing CCS industry can make use of infrastructure left behind by oil and gas industries. This is also necessary to build trust in the technology, and research communities play an important role here as independent operators.

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“Loads of great things have happened in the last few years when it comes to CCS. But it’s important to stress that we still have some way to go in terms of the capture, transport and storage of industry emissions and in developing technologies that will remove CO₂ and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. That’s to say, we need to keep focussing on research and innovation that will provide us with new CCS tools both nationally and through international partnerships, particularly with the EU. I also think we need projects that examine societal issues, including business models that are important for politicians, authorities and the general public.”

Since 2011, Standard Norway and Norwegian experts from industry, research institutions and authorities have participated in the development of international standards for CCS. The work has been carried out in working groups established by the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) in Technical Committee 265 (ISO/TC-265).  Industry and authorities in countries with CCS activities benefit from such standards as they contribute to reduce risks and costs, and close gaps in regulations. This lowers the barriers to market entry, especially for smaller companies.

For countries with CCS experience, this work helps to close gaps in the regulations, identify best practice, and allows commercial contracts to be assembled of standardized documents. For countries that do not yet have a regulatory framework for CCS, ISO standards can serve as building blocks for such a framework.

Norway plays an active role

Ingvild Ombudstvedt is chair of the Norwegian ISO committee for CCS and CO2-EOR. She also participates in the development of technical reports and standards as an expert in various working groups in ISO/TC-265, before the same reports and standards are subjected to voting for approval in the committees of Norway and other nations that are also members of ISO/TC-265.

“My work is also about project management. We have to ensure that all participating countries are heard in order to build consensus in the working groups. What we publish represents the latest in science and technology, and is unencumbered by patented rights, legal obstacles and other types of barriers to use. A prerequisite for this is that everyone is in agreement,” explains Ombudstvedt.

Active participation in ISO/TC-265 has allowed Norwegian experts to share Norwegian experience and knowledge in CCS, but also to secure Norwegian interests in the development of standards. Experiences from the Sleipner and Snøhvit gas fields, as well as full-scale projects, regulation development, and research and development from Norway, have proven invaluable. 

“This really has been a great platform for Norwegian industry and all other operators who have participated to show that Norway is a world leader in CCS.” 

Important cooperation

An important outcome that the Norwegian committee contributed to is the publication of twelve documents in the form of standards and technical reports. The publications are available on the ISO website, where they can be purchased and downloaded. In Norway, they can be purchased and downloaded from the Standards Norway website.

This ISO cooperation has also laid the groundwork for further building international cooperation and knowledge sharing. Research communities that download the standards will get access to this knowledge. Thanks to negotiations and the creation of standards and the technical reports, there has also been extensive knowledge sharing between the experts participating in the working groups. As of today, there are 24 countries involved in this work from all over the world, from all parts of the value chain and from a broad range of disciplines and operators.

“I believe that common standards can contribute to creating a strong basis for international cooperation,” says Ingvild Ombudstvedt. “Operators can use these standards to streamline the value chain. And then, it won’t matter whether the CO2 streams come from Poland, the Netherlands or Norway because operators can use the same standards across the entire value chain.”

CLIMIT support

Standards Norway and other experts from Norway received support from CLIMIT to participate in these international standardisation efforts.

“We have been totally dependent on these financial contributions. Without them, we would not have been able to play the really active role that we’ve wanted to. Support from CLIMIT has also been invaluable and provided our experts with a solid foundation here in Norway,” says Ombudstvedt.

“Politics and, at times, conflicting interests between participating countries and operators come part and parcel with these sorts of negotiations. We do, however, have a shared goal and interest in creating something here and in contributing to the advancement of a global CCS industry, which has really helped negotiations move along.”

 

“CLIMIT should therefore bear in mind that there is more than one road that leads to Rome”.

Benedicte Solaas has been a member of CLIMIT’s Programme Board since the start of 2022. She succeeded Hildegunn T. Blindheim, who became CEO of Offshore Norway last autumn, with Solaas taking over her position as Director, Climate and Environment.

‘Everyone’ knows that CO₂ emissions have to be managed

 “As a new member of the Programme Board, I find it very exciting to be able to look in depth at issues that are crucial for us both nationally and globally if we are to reach our climate goals. ‘Everyone’ knows that CO₂ emissions have to be managed, but involvement in CLIMIT gives both me and the industry I represent an incredibly good insight into the technologies that can and should be developed in order for us to actually achieve this.”

Solaas says that the CLIMIT Secretariat does a very thorough job of preparing and explaining the many project applications to be considered by the Programme Board.

“The positive thing in this regard is to see how many academic communities in Norway are engaged in finding solutions to the technical and societal challenges of capturing, transporting and storing CO₂ in the best possible way. Formidable efforts are being made to formulate good applications and obtain funding not only from CLIMIT but also from the industry. The discussions around the Board table are also very enlightening and constructive. So the organisation and content of the CLIMIT programme are very important for the development of a diverse CCS industry in Norway.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“In Offshore Norway we have a separate forum for CCS involving representatives of the member companies. There we work mainly with the policy framework and regulations for transport and storage of CO₂. We know there are strict demands for our industry to contribute to achieving the climate goals by gradually creating a new and forward-looking energy industry on the Norwegian continental shelf, where the management of CO₂ is a key element. With this in mind, we have focused in particular on solutions for transport and storage, where the expertise in the oil and gas industry has been crucial to developing rules and frameworks to safeguard the environment and safety. This is important not only for the successful launch of the Longship project, but also for future CCS projects.”

“But when the oil industry has a strategic climate goal whereby emissions are to be halved by 2030 and reduced almost to zero by 2050, we need to work on many different measures that bring us towards these targets. Electrification of parts of the continental shelf is very important, but people are also working on other solutions in which capturing CO₂ offshore is one of several possibilities to be assessed.”  

Member of the Programme Board of CLIMIT

Benedicte Solaas (38) holds a master’s degree in political science and international relations from the University of Kent and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. She was appointed as Director, Climate and Environment in Offshore Norway last year, after holding various positions in the organisation since 2013. She previously worked as an advisor in the business department of Nordland county municipality and at the European Office for Northern Norway in Brussels. Throughout her professional career, energy policy, including the management of CO₂ has been an important area of work for her.

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“It is support for technology development and business models that lay the foundations for CCS on a broad basis. Together with the industrial partners, the Norwegian government has invested heavily in Longship, which is a fantastic, ground-breaking project. But it is also important to develop technology for other, alternative solutions for managing CO₂, as a basis for a viable and productive CCS industry for many years to come. CLIMIT should therefore bear in mind that there is more than one road that leads to Rome”.

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“As a recent addition to the Programme Board, part from the general response I have given to the previous question, I am a little cautious about identifying very specific areas of technology that need to be covered in the future. I will listen closely to the recommendations made by the Secretariat and very competent Board members. But the need for the CLIMIT programme over the next five to ten years is beyond dispute.”

So all-consuming has this interest become that Halland, who recently left her position as project manager at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, jokes that she eats and drinks CCS.

CLIMIT has made a big contribution to this

Eva Halland has been a member and deputy chair of the Programme Board of CLIMIT since 2013, which makes her the longest-serving representative around the table.

“The most interesting thing about this position has been to be able to follow good ideas from research through to demo phases, and see them end up as important elements in the Longship CCS project. All of this major investment in capture, transport and storage of CO₂ has its origins in the work that has been done over many years in R&D groups and prominent technology companies. It is very exciting and a lot of fun.”

“I am also very grateful for what the Board work has given me in terms of understanding and insight into the varied efforts of both technology developers and supplier companies to turn CCS into a complete value chain. The huge advance in knowledge and technology that has taken place in this area in recent years is very impressive, and I believe CLIMIT has made a big contribution to this.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“I eat and drink CCS,” she replies with a laugh, and gives an example:

“In the work I headed up in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to establish a CO₂ storage atlas for the Norwegian continental shelf and a Norwegian regulatory framework and framework for transport and storage of CO₂, it was incredibly reassuring to be able to contact centres of expertise and obtain informative and knowledgeable answers to all the big questions relating to provisions for handling risk, safety and the environment. It also gives me confidence in my role as a consultant to be able to draw on the strong knowledge environments we have in this country when I get enquiries from within Norway and abroad related to transport and storage. Our many talented technology developers make me very proud.”  

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“It is to show that carbon capture and storage is actually possible, and can be done efficiently and safely. CLIMIT needs to help raise awareness both in Norway and in the international community that CCS is a necessary part of our work to achieve the climate goals. ‘Build more wind turbines instead,’ some say, but they need to understand that both industry and fossil energy sources have to be decarbonised to take us through a green transformation in the way we look after our shared planet.”

Deputy chair of the Programme Board of CLIMIT

Eva Halland (67) graduated in geology from the University of Bergen and joined the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) in 1984, where she has since held a number of technical and management positions. She was project manager for CCS and for the development of the Norwegian CO₂ storage atlas. Halland left the NPD in July this year and now works for CarbonGeo Consulting as a consultant and board member. She is also project manager for transport and storage of CO₂ in the member organisation CCUS Norway. In her career, she has had a number of jobs related to CCS around the world, including in South Africa and in several Asian countries, and has also acted as an advisor to ministries and departments in Western countries.

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“The challenge for us managing the CLIMIT programme is to keep two ideas in our heads at the same time. In the short term, it is important to support technology development which will enable us to quickly obtain new licenses for storing CO₂. This calls for more experience with the models that are now being established, so future projects can be even more efficient in terms of both costs and risk management. In the slightly longer term, it is important for us to contribute to completely new CCS solutions; solutions that few people have even thought of yet. That means cultivating innovation and creativity with at least as much intensity as CLIMIT has shown so far.”

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“CLIMIT needs to play a role in ensuring that we have technologies that are effective and safe enough for the CCS projects that are now emerging both in Norway and abroad up to 2030. We must help to ensure that our centres of expertise engage in international cooperation. I am convinced that the interplay between researchers and technologists with different approaches and mindsets produces the most innovative and best solutions.”

So says the chair of the Programme Board, Arvid Nøttveit. “But although we have come a long way, there is still much to be done to develop the technologies that will be needed to reach our climate goals.”

Very rewarding

Nøttveit has been chair of the Programme Board for CLIMIT since the start of 2019. “I accepted the position because for ten years I had been working on issues related to research into CO₂ management, including as head of the SUCCESS research centre (FME), which was concerned with developing better methods for CO₂ storage. The work of the Programme Board gives me insight and keeps me updated on what is happening in this exciting field of research both in Norway and around the world, so it is very rewarding.”

The CLIMIT programme is a collaboration between Gassnova and the Research Council of Norway, and aims to enable faster implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS). CLIMIT encompasses the Research Council of Norway’s support scheme for research and development (the R&D part) and Gassnova’s support for development and demonstration (the Demo part). Gassnova has overall responsibility for coordination and heads the programme secretariat. The mandate of the Programme Board is to process applications for projects in both categories on the recommendation of the secretariat, and perform regular audits of the programme plan for CLIMIT. This plan, which defines the type of projects that can receive support, is normally updated every two years, but it can also be changed more frequently when innovations appear that could have an impact on the way CO₂ is handled in the future. In CLIMIT-Demo there are now 71 active projects receiving a total of NOK 378 million in support, while CLIMIT R&D comprises 50 projects with financial support amounting to NOK 368 million. The Programme Board has ten members who meet five to six times a year.

“The work involves examining and processing project applications based on preparatory work from the secretariat. We also have an important role to play in ensuring that the programme keeps abreast of research and development in the CO₂ field. For example, we recently decided that projects related to the production of blue hydrogen are also eligible to apply. The challenge with this way of producing hydrogen is that the by-product is CO₂. This has to be captured and stored so the production does not contribute to global warming – and this requires more research and development of usable technologies.”

Chair of the Programme Board for CLIMIT

Arvid Nøttveit (69) is a strategic advisor for energy at the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) based in Bergen, and was CEO of its predecessor Christian Michelsen Research for 14 years. He has extensive experience from research in the oil and gas industry, and from managing practical work in drilling, exploration, field development and operations on the Norwegian continental shelf and around the world. Nøttveit holds a PhD in geosciences from the University of Bergen.

Why is the CLIMIT programme important for the development of CCS technology?

“This is a question I have been thinking about for a long time, and the answer relates to development for CCS internationally. We have to admit that there have been both ups and downs, with great enthusiasm and commitment to making CCS part of the climate solution often being followed by inactivity. In contrast, CLIMIT has been firmly established and stable since its inception in 2004; a beacon for financing of important research. In my opinion, the Norwegian authorities’ commitment and belief in CCS have been very important to the leading position we have in Norway in technology for handling CO₂, and have also contributed to development in other countries, because many of the CLIMIT projects are run jointly with international partners.”

“The other thing I would mention which makes the CLIMIT programme unique is the breadth of the project portfolio. The programme includes everything from pure research to industrial projects. I believe that this approach, with the vast knowledge base it has provided, has been crucial to our ability to implement Longship with two full-scale capture projects and transport and storage of CO₂. We are now seeing this major Norwegian initiative also triggering far greater engagement with CCS internationally.”

What do you see as the three most important measures in CLIMIT’s programme plan?

“Firstly, it is important for us to be able to maintain the breadth of project categories, because we are still at an early stage in the development of technologies needed by the global community. CLIMIT should also view CCS in the context of other technologies in the energy field that will be important for the green transformation. Finally, we must be open to including technology projects that may initially seem difficult to realise on a large scale, such as capturing CO₂ directly from the air. This is because, as things stand, a prerequisite for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of no more than 1.5 to 2 degrees of global warming is not just a reduction in current greenhouse gas emissions, but also what are called negative emissions. In other words, CLIMIT also has to contribute to the development of technologies that actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.” 

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“We must continue to contribute to projects that aim to reduce costs by using the mature technologies that are now being adopted, in the Longship project for example, because this is vital if we are to realise more projects, and for these to be commercial, with little or no need for government funding. It is also important to create technology for integrating capture facilities into existing, often compact, industrial environments. Technology for scaling is a very important issue for the transport and storage of CO₂. Northern Lights is a great demonstration facility, but if the goals set by the EU and the IEA are to be attained, the storage capacity has to be very rapidly increased to a hundred times the volume that Northern Lights will be able to handle. For this, technology for reception and storage needs to be developed to allow these demands to be met within a commercial economic framework.”

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“I am concerned that CLIMIT should be able and allowed to play a continued role in the years to come. It is important to emphasise that even if we succeed with Longship, there will still be a need for new technologies for handling CO₂ both nationally and internationally. This is not just a responsibility that we have to take on as a nation – with our status and leading position in the field, it also offers us great opportunities. This is because, through the EU’s CETPartnership (formerly ACT), we can launch and receive support for technology development with co-financing from the Horizon programme.”

What do you think is needed to develop and finance several large Norwegian full-scale projects in addition to Longship?

“It will probably be a long time before the state steps in with the same financial clout as in Longship to implement full-scale carbon capture and storage. In other words, industry and business need to take the responsibility, with less public support. However, we still need a scheme to promote the development and realisation of projects which, thanks to support from CLIMIT and other sources, are on the drawing board and ready to go. To cover this gap, there is therefore a need for better interaction between stakeholders such as Enova, Gassnova, Innovation Norway and the Research Council of Norway. A strategy needs to be drawn up to define how the policy apparatus can best help to ensure that essential and achievable climate benefits are realised.” 

If we are to achieve international climate goals, CO₂ capture and storage must be adopted on a large scale worldwide. The technology for this exists, but intensive development work is under way to make it cheaper and more efficient.

Moving Bed Temperature Swing Adsorption

Richard Blom from SINTEF has been the project leader of the EDeMoTec project, which has further developed an interesting process for CO₂ capture. The process is known as Moving Bed Temperature Swing Adsorption (MBTSA). This is a process in which flue gas containing CO₂ first comes into contact with solids, known as adsorbents, which can bind to the CO₂. In the next process step, the adsorbent is heated to release the CO₂. This produces pure CO₂ that can be permanently stored. One of the main issues for the MBTSA process is to achieve a high degree of purity of the separated CO₂ gas.

One challenge is to choose adsorbents that are both effective and stable, and this is where Blom and his team have achieved interesting results. Several types of materials have been studied, and some prove to be more effective and stable than others. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and zeolites have yielded very promising results.

A competitive solution

The EDeMoTec project, funded by CLIMIT, has enabled the researchers to run the necessary process simulations and a comprehensive testing programme. The results show that the process could be a competitive solution for CO₂ capture from gas-fired power plants and waste incineration plants, for example.

The MBTSA process will now be further developed in the Horizon 2020 project MOF4AIR. Richard Blom and his team are also working with industry players to optimise the process.

Facts about the project

Project number: 267873

Project title: Enabling technology for the development of Moving Bed Temperature Swing Adsorption process for post-combustion CO₂ capture

Project manager: Richard Blom, SINTEF

Partners: SINTEF, NTNU, SRI International

Period: 2017-2022

Budget: NOK 11.34 million

Support from the Research Council of Norway through the CLIMIT programme: NOK 10.75 million