Administrative management of the Norwegian participation in the development of ISO standards for CCS

Background
In 2011, an ISO committee was established to focus on standardization of the CCS value chain (ISO/TC 265 Carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and geological storage). Later, a European committee was established (CEN/TC 474 CO₂ capture, transportation, utilization, storage (CCUS) and carbon accounting). Members of the national mirror committee for CCS participate with expertise and experience in both the international and European committees.

Standards Norway facilitates Norwegian participation in standardization through a national and international infrastructure and digital tools, as well as a neutral ground for Norwegian experts where national interests can be discussed.

Goal
Standards Norway strive to have broad Norwegian participation in international and European standardization to safeguard national interests within the field of CCUS. Good standards are a prerequisite for a well-functioning CCS value chain and trade between nations.

Standard Norway aims to have participants in all working groups where standards are developed that are of interest to Norwegian stakeholders.

Activities
There are 31 active participants in the Norwegian mirror committee.

Engagement of Norwegian experts in international standardization have been good throughout the project period in both ISO/TC 265 and CEN/TC 474. Standards Norway and the subject experts have the lead in several international working groups.

Standards Norway has represented Norway and participated in several international meetings (both working group meetings and plenary meetings).

Results
Over the three-year period from January 2022 to December 2025, 11 standards and technical reports have been published in ISO. Examples that are important for Norwegian interests includes a standard for performance evaluation of capture from carbon-intensive industries and a technical report for describing the transport of CO₂ on ships. There are now a total of 17 standards and technical reports in the ISO portfolio and 8 more standards under development.

A European committee (CEN/TC 474) has been established during the three-year period to manage European standardization within CCUS and as a respond to requests for new standards from the European Commission. The CEN committee has four active working groups.

Further Work
Standards Norway will continue the operation of the national mirror committee and international engagement. There is continuous revision of existing standards and development of new documents. Examples of standard developments that are important for Norway includes a technical report for import/export terminals (Ship-Shore interface), development of a European standard for CO₂ specification that will cover the largest emission sources, and quantification and verification of CO₂ mass flows and analysis of the CO₂ flow.

Publications
An overview of available standards under ISO TC 265 Carbon dioxide capture, transportation, and storage is available on the ISO website.