Communication near CO2: Announcements

NEARCO2 workshop

The workshop on 'Strategies of communication and effective engagement in CCS projects: Results of the European NEARCO2 project' has been finalized. Proceedings and main research reports can be found at Documents and Materials.

Dutch government cancels Barendrecht CCS project

Early November the Dutch government cancelled plans for a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) site near the city of Barendrecht.

According to the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, one of the main reasons for this decision is the fact that the project has encountered a delay of more than three years by now, thus reducing the added value of realising the project.

As for the local communication process in Barendrecht, the NearCO2 project has develivered a case study for the project period until November 2009 in more detail. See the report "Review of the public practices for CCS and non-CCS projects in Europe" in appendix G. On the base of the case study a conference paper has been published as well.

Meanwhile projects that are important to the large-scale deployment of CCS are also conducted elsewhere in the world. Moreover, the Minister argues that a large part of the envisaged learning effects (procedures, judicial, permits, etcetera) has already been realised during the preparatory stage of the project. Therefore, the project is no longer essential for further development of CCS in the Netherlands. On top of that, the press message mentions the lack of local support to be an important aspect in the decision process on a CO₂ storage project.

Please review our latest NearCO2 Newsletter (February 2011).