Focus area

Industry

Industry is a crucial component of the global economy, but it also has a significant impact on the environment.

The energy-intensive nature of many industrial activities as well as the nature of the industrial processes themselves means that they are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to meet climate change targets, industry must transition to low-carbon energy and feedstock sources and other means to radically reduce its emissions. 

In short:

  • Industrial decarbonisation will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) for emissions where there are no other alternatives, or availability is problematic.  

  • Hydrogen will be inevitable to decarbonise some industrial processes that cannot be electrified but will be scarce for the foreseeable future.  

Industry has a wide array of options at hand to reduce its emissions. Depending on the processes used, increased circularity, energy efficiency, a change of combustion fuel or feedstock, or electrification can be some of the viable options available, while most of the time a combination of these is most relevant.

The decarbonisation option of CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial processes and then storing them permanently. This is particularly relevant for process emissions, which are not related to the type of combustible used and can only be significantly reduced by capturing and storing them. Such process emissions exist in cement and lime industries, for example.  

Another decarbonisation option is the use of hydrogen for industry. It can be used as a feedstock in a variety of industrial processes but can also serve as a fuel where direct electrification of an industrial process is not possible. Hydrogen releases no greenhouse gases when it is burned, but depending on how it is produced and transported, it can have varying levels of negative impacts on the climate.  

Many tools are available to industry to decarbonise. Ensuring the most energy-efficient and cost-effective options are chosen that consider wider system impacts is important to both decarbonise rapidly and to keep a competitive edge on the global market. 

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Consultation Response: Industrial Carbon Management Strategy

The European Commission published in October 2022 its intention to develop a Communication on its strategic vision for the deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in the EU, to be published by the end of 2023. As outlined in a letter signed by Bellona, CATF and several other stakeholders in early June 2023, the European Commission was strongly urged to ensure the publication of the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy before the end of 2023 and along with its fast implementation.

Carbon Capture and Storage Ladder: Assessing the Climate Value of CCS Applications in Europe

Together with E3G and independent co-authors, our colleagues from Bellona Deutschland have published a "CCS Ladder" for Europe, inspired by the ladder for clean hydrogen by Liebreich Associates. With this work, we hope to initiate a more nuanced discussion about the climate benefits of various CCS applications while advocating that public support – ranging from infrastructure planning to policy frameworks or financial assistance – should be focused on applications with the greatest climate benefits. This work aims to support ongoing discussions on carbon management strategies at various levels, including the CMS in Germany and the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act. 

Hydrogen DRI for Steel in a Resource-Constrained Europe: How Much Renewable Electricity is Needed to Decarbonise the Sector with Green Hydrogen

The European Union (EU) is the world’s second largest steel producer after China, with an annual production capacity of about 150 million metric tons in 2021 and home to over 500 steel production sites in 22 member states1. The sector is a vital component of the EU’s economy, directly providing jobs for around 310.000 people and many more in downstream sectors of the steel value chain, such as construction or the automotive industry. It contributes some €125 billion to the EU’s GDP annually1. Importantly, steel is an indispensable material for various parts of the energy transition, such as wind turbines, solar power plants, electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure and energy storage systems. 

Bellona Europa Consultation Response: Net Zero Industry Act

The NZIA aims to promote net zero technologies at climate relevant timelines, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The act also covers crucial aspects of a just transition, by highlighting the need for skills and creation of sustainable jobs for a net-zero future. The text also covers means of speeding up permitting. An area of concern identified by Bellona Europa is that faster permitting carries risks of blanket support for technologies which need robust regulatory frameworks. This is particularly the case for hydrogen. The inclusion of hydrogen must contain strict conditionality to ensure its production and use comes with an actual climate benefit. To ensure the NZIA delivers on its potential to further climate ambition, Bellona Europa suggest addressing and revising crucial parts of the text

Consultation Response on the list of candidate Projects of Common Interest in the thematic area of cross-border CO2 transport and storage networks

A total of 18 cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure projects applied for the status as a “Project of Common Interest” (PCI) or “Project of Mutual Interest” (PMI, in cases of projects involving non-EU countries), covering 17 EU Member States and 4 non-EU countries. These projects collectively show tremendous potential for making a European CO2 transport and storage network a reality, enabling large-scale European industrial decarbonisation.

Amended Proposal: Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Revised Guidelines

Bellona Europa greatly welcomes the launched call for evidence on the TEN-T Regulation in the wake of a new geopolitical reality and the REPowerEU strategy. In addition to the outlined changes in line with the “Solidarity Lanes” Commission Communication and the need to update the TEN-T maps and connectivity to Ukraine and Moldova, we urge that the important role of the green and just transition is not only kept in the proposal, but also expanded to include multiple transport modalities for transporting CO2 to storage from industrial emitters.

Brief: TEN-E missing puzzle piece on pathway to Net-Zero

"Ten-E missing puzzle piece on pathway to Net-Zero" which aims to explain how the inclusion of TEN-E could contribute to the EU climate objectives and the deployment of a net-zero future. the Revised TEN-E European Commission’s draft neglects some key elements for geologic storage and transport modalities other than pipeline -  integral parts of the value chain of carbon capture, removal and storage. A monumental shift in policy is needed to scale it – and we believe TEN-E is a perfect place to start.

Consultation Response – Revised TEN-E Regulation

Following our consultation response in December 2020 and July 2020, we submitted our latest response to the public consultation on the revision of the TEN-E Regulation. The revision of the TEN-E Regulation is a watershed moment for the future of Europe’s CO2 networks. By not addressing or amending the category of CO2 networks, the current proposal is in direct contrast with the underlying justification for the ongoing revision of the TEN-E Regulation, as outlined in the European Green Deal.

Consultation Response – TEN-E Regulation – July 2020

The revised TEN-E Regulation must reflect the urgent need for climate action, and be in line with pathways to reach the target of carbon neutrality by 2050. It t must encourage and facilitate the development of energy carriers consistent with the transition to a low-carbon world. Particularly, the revised TEN-E regulation must reflect the urgency of facilitating the deployment of crucial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies, as well as excluding unabated fossil fuel infrastructure projects which are massive risk bearers for emissions lock-in.

Virtuous climate ambitions, virtual solutions: Precarious delivery of industrial CO2 capture & storage projects in Norway

This policy brief looks at the role of Norway's CCS projects and their possible effects on roll-out of CCS projects in Northern and Western Europe. The brief is partly a response to a report by consultancy Atkins on the costs and benefits of the Norwegian CCS project, which has several major shortcomings and is therefore not suitable as a basis for a Norwegian government or parliament decision on investment in a full-scale CCS value chain.

BellonaBrief: CCU in the EU ETS: risk of CO2 laundering preventing a permanent CO2 solution

Drastically reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is necessary to reach the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. The permanent geological disposal of CO2 captured from industrial facilities, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), provides an essential and achievable avenue for reaching this objective. In this brief, Bellona explains why Carbon Capture and Use/Utilisation methods, except for those allowing for permanent storage of CO2, should be excluded from the ETS.

BellonaBrief: Brexit Implications on Climate, Energy and Environment

On 24 June 2016 the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the European Union. Many resources are now likely to be diverted from running the EU and progressing important policies toward instead managing and negotiating the referendum implications. While many uncertainties and questions remain to be addressed, one thing remains certain: Bellona has championed environmental and climate protection in Europe from outside EU membership for over 20 years and will continue to do so. While domestic implications for the UK remain unclear, NGOs’ voices in Europe will continue to be heard.

North Sea to the Rescue: The commercial and industrial opportunities of CO2 storage in the North Sea

CCS is an indispensable component of national and global decarbonisation pathways as recognised by the IPCC, the IEA, and the European Commission. Using estimates of the CO2 required to be stored in the North Sea for Europe to reach its 2050 decarbonisation objectives, Bellona has estimated the size of the future North Sea CO2 storage sector. The CO2 storage sector has the potential to become a major North Sea enterprise, employing 22,000 people by 2030. Countries surrounding the North Sea basin must act to encourage the sectors development and to enable Europe to decarbonise effectively. The key findings of this report are being launched today at Bellona's COP 21 side event themed 'From extraction to injection: North Sea CO2 storage and the CCS business case'.

BellonaBrief: IPCC 5th Climate Assessment Report: An unequivocal call for action on (Bio-)CCS

The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 5AR, 2014) issued a stark warning: to stand a reasonable chance of avoiding disastrous climate change, we have to remain within a ‘safe’ level of CO2 emissions so that average global temperature rise is limited to 2°C. Because more than half of the CO2 ‘budget’ that allows us to remain within this threshold has already been used and current rates will exhaust the remainder within 25 years, the IPCC’s scenarios now rely on negative emissions to keep temperature rise below 2°C. These in turn are attainable through the combination of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and sustainable biomass used for energy or products, so-called Bio-CCS or BECCS.

BellonaBrief: CO2 Utilisation by mineralisation – much ado about nothing

No form of CO2 use should be considered a substitute for permanent geological storage of CO2. Some forms of CO2 use, such as EOR or EGR, can constitute or contribute to necessary CO2 removal infrastructure and therefore play a role in developing CO2 storage. However, other uses such as mineralisation do not appear to offer any such rationale as an alternative to geological CO2 storage. This brief takes a particular look at CO2 use through mineralisation.

A future CO2 economy: the case of Norway

Bellona has prepared a six-point list on how Norway can develop a CO2 economy which tackles emissions reductions nationally and simultaneously develops CCS as an industry in Europe. The report was in December 2014 sent out for consultation to around 400 Norwegian stakeholders and was in January 2015 updated according to comments from a wide academic community. Bellona recommends that the Norwegian government expands its CCS strategy with the purpose of establishing a profitable value chain for CO2 storage and CCS.

Bellona Europa response to the stakeholder consultation on Emission Trading System (ETS) post-2020 carbon leakage provisions

Carbon leakage is a term used to describe situations where, as a result of costs incurred from the implementation of climate policies, certain businesses relocate production to countries with less stringent (or no) climate policies in place. The European Commission has carried out a public consultation on the different options for a system to avoid carbon leakage after 2020 for sectors covered by the EU ETS. The results of this consultation will feed into further work on the 2030 Climate and Energy Policy Framework regarding the determination of post-2020 rules on free allocation and carbon leakage provisions in the EU ETS. Bellona’s views and recommendations are outlined in this response.

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Photo: Baptism of Northern Lights’ first CO₂ carrier in Stavanger in 2025, by Olav Øye

A great leap towards a scaled European market for CCS: Northern Lights expands storage capacity, will store CO₂ from Stockholm  

Europe’s only multi-source, injection-ready CO₂ storage site will more than triple its capacity by 2028. The decision follows an agreement with Stockholm Exergi to transport and store up to 800 – 900 kilotonnes of CO₂ per year. “This decision is years in the making, and the culmination of decades of hard work from many, Bellona included” says Bellona Europa Director Jonas Helseth.

Bellona Europa snap reactions on European Commission drafts ahead of February 26th  

As all of Brussels is waiting to see exactly what is included in the legislative package coming out on the 26th of February, drafts have started to circulate. So far, 5 drafts have been widely spoken of in the media. While we cannot be sure that these drafts represent the final results, Bellona Europa has conducted an initial analysis on 3 of the available drafts – and added our recommendations on how to best safeguard the climate integrity of the upcoming package.  

The people involved

Peter Guidikov

Policy Assistant, EU Policy

peter@bellona.org +33 6 20 81 67 51

Behnam Lot

Policy Advisor, Industrial Decarbonisation

behnam@bellona.org +49 15750140863

Michał Wendołowski

Head of Net Zero Industry

michal@bellona.org +32 (0) 474 801 339

Hanna Biro

Policy Manager, Just Industrial Transition & CCS

hanna@bellona.org +32 (0) 467 754 344

Janis Volberts

Manager Baltics

janis@bellona.org +371 29647759

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