Opening speech by State Secretary Øyvind Håbrekke at the "OSPAR workshop on the environmental impact of placement of carbon dioxide in geological structures in the maritime area", Trondheim, 26 October 2004

Carbon capture and storage to reduce greenhouse gases

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to be in Trondheim this afternoon to open the OSPAR workshop on the important issue of storage of carbon dioxide and its possible effects. Many of you have already had the benefit of following the SINTEF-hosted second Trondheim conference on CO ₂ transport, capture and storage, immediately preceding this workshop. Some of you may just have arrived in Trondheim, perhaps for the first time. I wish you all a warm welcome.

(The challenge of global climate change)

I would like to take as a point of departure the immense challenge of global climate change. I think we can all agree that human-induced global warming is one of the most challenging environmental problems the world is facing today. The signals from the IPCC – that is the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – are alarming . Much research has been conducted on the effects of global warming on the world's oceans. Large-scale impacts on the oceans are expected to include rising sea levels and sea surface temperatures, reduced sea ice coverage and changes in ocean circulations and salinity. IPCC expects that collectively these changes will have profound impacts on the productivity, biodiversity and sustainability of the marine ecosystems. We know that the oceans play an important role in the global climate system. A large portion of the man-made emissions of CO ₂ to the atmosphere is in fact absorbed in the oceans, and there are important feedback effects between changes in the oceans and changes in the global climate. I believe this aspect will be addressed in further detail tomorrow.

Against this backdrop, then, I would like to emphasise the vital importance, also for the marine environment, of looking into a broad range of measures to mitigate climate change.

(Carbon capture and storage as an important mitigating measure for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases)

Like many countries, Norway is committed to an energy policy which upholds a sustainable development and is responsive to the challenge of climate change. We work to enhance the deployment of renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency. Indeed, our domestic use of electricity is 99,2 per cent hydropower based, and we have aspiring programs for wind and bio energy.

However, even if the efforts to promote renewable energy and higher energy efficiency are increased considerably, fossil fuels will have a high share of the world’s power generation for years to come. This chart from the IEA depicts one possible scenario, illustrating rising CO ₂ emissions towards 2030. Thus, we face important challenges related to producing and using fossil fuels in a sustainable and environmentally benign way. A sustainable energy policy must include a way of significantly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil energy production and use.

The capturing and storage of CO ₂ in geological structures is one such option. Carbon capture and storage has the potential to be an important mitigating measure, contributing to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases from large point sources, and consequently to significant cuts in global emissions. Furthermore, CO ₂ capture and storage may be combined with production of hydrogen from fossil fuels and thus play a key role in new environmentally sound energy strategies. As other options, carbon capture and storage has potential risks as well as benefits. We have to be confident that carbon capture and storage is a safe and viable way to combat climate change. I will come back to this later on.

(Carbon capture and storage is high on the international agenda)

In recent years the capture, storage and possible use of CO ₂ has been a prominent topic on various arenas. Thus, I would like to briefly touch upon some of the extensive work underway in this field:

A comprehensive report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on carbon capture and storage is due next year. This report will be an important milestone in presenting the state of art in a broad range of issues related to the carbon capture and storage chain, including environmental, geological, technical, and economical questions. I look forward to the presentation of this work that will be given just after my speech.

The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme is a major centre for research activities and specific projects, and the database of ongoing projects developed under this programme is a valuable source of information.

I also believe that the efforts of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a forum where several of the countries present here today actively take part, has an important role to play in the advancement of technological progress in this field.

I would also like to point to the various research efforts and programmes within the EU. I am sure we will see important results from actual CO ₂ storage-projects which are now in the pipeline in many European countries.

As you all are very well aware, the issue is also on the agenda in an international marine environment context, both within the OSPAR and the London Conventions.

(The OSPAR context)

In OSPAR, the issue of placement of CO ₂ in the marine environment was initially brought up at the OSPAR Commission meeting in 2002. The question was further looked into by the OSPAR jurist-linguist group, which concluded its work earlier this year. This work has been very useful, representing legal clarification on several points. Generally, though, it has become clear that what is permitted under the Convention to a large extent is dependent on the purpose of placement and the method of transport to the storage site, and not by the potential effect of such placement on the marine environment.

Norway certainly was in the forefront and one of the advocates for a stringent legal framework when the OSPAR Convention was negotiated. We will continue to be an ardent defender of the Convention and the principles it is designed to protect. However, we have to bear in mind that the placement of CO ₂ as a climate mitigating measure was not an option at the time when the OSPAR Convention was adopted. As a consequence, what is a comprehensive and well-functioning regulatory framework in other areas, appears rather complicated, and indeed illogical when applied to CO ₂.

It is crucial that the safe storage of CO ₂ in geological structures is not rejected as a possible climate mitigation option. To ensure this, certain legal adjustments may, ultimately, prove to be necessary. Firstly, however, there is need for a systematic and thorough assessment of what will be the best solution for the environment as a whole. This workshop is an important contribution to this end.

(The Norwegian perspective and experience)

As a country surrounded by a sea rich in resources and as a major producer of oil and gas, the safeguarding of a clean and rich marine environment is of vital importance to Norway. We must ensure that CO ₂ is stored securely. In this regard, experiences from ongoing projects are extremely valuable.

The offshore Sleipner project in Norway represents nearly a decade of experience from the monitoring of storage of CO ₂ in saline aquifers through the injection of 1 million tons of CO ₂ per year in the Utsira formation above the gas reservoir of the Sleipner field on the Norwegian continental shelf. On a global scale, even, this represents a unique project on aquifer CO ₂ storage and the sole ongoing geological storage experience of that time scale. Experience data from seismic surveys and time series to map the accumulation of CO ₂ and its behaviour in the sub-surface over time, are essential inputs to increase our understanding and document the viability of geological storage in general. The world needs more projects of this kind to continue to advance on the learning curve.

So far injection of CO ₂ has only taken place on-shore or offshore from platform-based surface wells. As more and more oil and gas operations worldwide will take place on the sea-bed, there is also a need to gain experience from sub-sea injection of CO ₂. On the Snøhvit gas field on the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, it has been decided to develop the field with an injection of about 700.000 tonnes of CO ₂ per year from 2006. The injection scheme will be the first in its kind where CO ₂ is injected from sub-sea wells. Unlike the Sleipner injection where the CO ₂ is stored above the gas reservoir, the CO ₂ injected in the Snøhvit field will be stored below the gas reservoir. This will give new experience from storage in a different geological location.

Additionally, experience from the injection and monitoring of CO ₂ in the Weyburn-project in Canada, as well as the experience from decades of injection of CO ₂ for enhanced oil recovery in the US, give valuable input.

Having said this, I would like to stress that it is essential that such projects are subject to careful national regulation. In Norway CO ₂-storage projects have to apply for a permit pursuant to the Pollution Control Act. In the application the company will have to establish the suitability of the actual storage, and the permits include monitoring and reporting obligations.

As a major petroleum producer, Norway has an important interest in the development of technologies for cleaner exploitation and use of petroleum and natural gas. It is the Norwegian government's ambition to contribute to the development of cost efficient technology solutions for CO ₂ capture, transport and storage. A successful development of sequestration technologies could prove to be of vital importance for further use of fossil fuels as an energy source. This year, the Norwegian government has established a public fund at approx. 234 million euro dedicated to the development of technology for the production of natural gas with carbon capture. In January 2005, a public innovation enterprise for the development and promotion of such technologies will be established. The enterprise will be responsible for the management of the fund. Development of new technologies for CO ₂ capture and storage, and the setting up of pilot and demonstration facilities will constitute the central focus.

Let me also mention the interest Norwegian government has taken in exploring the use of CO ₂ injection as a means to enhanced oil recovery. Related to the common climate challenge the Norwegian Minister for Oil and Energy has taken an initiative to explore the possibility of establishing a co-operation between the North Sea countries, the European Union and Norway on these issues.

(Conditions for CO ₂ storage)

For CO ₂ storage to prove a viable greenhouse gas mitigation measure, we have to take all possible precautions to make sure that the marine environment is not adversely affected. When using geological structures under the seabed to store CO ₂, we have to be confident that the method of storage is safe and the risk of leakage is minimal. However, we have to take into account that CO ₂ is likely to be stored in geological structures that have contained oil and gas securely for millions of years. Also, we have to take into account the alarming effects of climate change on the marine environment and marine life that is now so plainly starting to show. With that knowledge in mind, we have to decide what is the best solution for the environment as a whole.

(Concluding remarks)

In concluding, I would like to emphasize that we already know a lot about CO ₂ storage in geological structures:

• We know that it potentially is an important option to combat climate change
• We know it is an option that is technically feasible
• We know that we have a vast potential of storage sites
• We know that this is also a long-term measure for a better marine environment

On this issue, as on all other environmental issues, the precautionary principle should be our guiding flag. And there is still a need for more knowledge on potential environmental effects of CO ₂. I am therefore particularly pleased that it was possible to arrange this OSPAR workshop in conjunction with the preceding SINTEF conference, allowing many of you to take advantage of a full three days of scientific seminar on this important topic. And I am certainly pleased to see so many recognized and excellent scientists amongst the speakers, panellists and participants at this workshop. Your contribution is much appreciated.

I hope that these two days will prove rewarding for all of you. I look forward to the outcome of the workshop, and believe it will provide valuable inputs to the further work of OSPAR on this issue.

Thank you very much for your attention!