US and Norway Enhance Cooperation within Carbon Capture

US Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, and Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Tor Lien, today agreed to enhance the cooperation between the United States and Norway within the field of carbon capture. The purpose of the accord is to speed up the development of capture technologies.

The announcement was made Thursday, during the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in Washington DC.

A network of carbon capture test centers was established in 2012.

- We have agreed to move the cooperation within carbon capture to a new level. The pilot network will contribute to the development of carbon capture, and ensure that relevant technologies are adopted. In cooperation with our international partners, Norway will work to enhance the network. We also welcome other countries to join, says Norwegian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Mr. Tord Lien.

He stresses that carbon capture is one of several actions that must be taken in order to reduce emissions from fossil fuels. The technology being developed must be adopted globally. This requires cross-border cooperation.

- We all agree  that we need to share ideas, knowledge and experiences in order to find commercially viable solutions. Existing infrastructure must be utilized in an efficient manner. We must learn as much as possible  from each other. This requires cooperation and joint efforts from the industry, the research community  and  governments, Lien says.

Currently, eight centers participate in the test center network, representing  the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Norway (Test Center Mongstad, TCM).

The United States and Norway announce their commitment to support the CCS Test Centre Network.

The US Minister of Energy Ernest Moniz and the Norwegian Minister Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien are interviewed by NRKs Gro Holm (photo: Ole Berthelsen / MPE).