“CLIMIT must bring economists and social scientists on board”

But I would also challenge socioeconomic research communities to contribute their knowledge about what this focus on CCS will mean for value creation in Norwegian society. 

Eystein Leren has been a member of the CLIMIT Programme Board for five years and is pleased that theoretical knowledge about how CO₂ should be managed is being put into practice in industry.

“The work of the Programme Board provides a fantastic viewpoint to follow the development of carbon management technologies and full-scale CCS projects, not just in Norway, but also internationally. The Board provides professional recommendations to Gassnova, the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy about the strategy and direction of the Programme Plan, which is obviously interesting and getting to influence that is a meaningful experience. I would also highlight that the Board’s work is helped by good preparatory work from the secretariat, which, with regard to time spent, makes tasks manageable in an otherwise busy work day.”

How do you encounter CCS in your day-to-day work?

“Ammonia is produced using hydrogen and nitrogen. Hydrogen used in this process is traditionally produced from natural gas, and the waste CO₂ is emitted into the atmosphere. This called “grey” ammonia. As such, decarbonising ammonia has long been on the agenda for environmental reasons, but for us at Yara Clean Ammonia, the point is also to create a sustainable business from zero-emission ammonia. Because if carbon emissions from the process are captured and stored (CCS), the end product will be “blue”. To make it “green”, it needs to be produced using electrolysis and renewable energy. Our task is therefore to develop new segments in the ammonia market in addition to fertiliser, such as shipping fuel, as energy carrier in power and heat generation, and for long-distance transport of hydrogen. Across all new segments, only low and zero-emission ammonia will be used.

“In our work in developing blue and green ammonia production, we are looking at a number of CCS projects both in the North Sea and in North America. In this manner, the commencement of the Longship project is extremely important for the further development of industrial solutions that, among other things, can cover our and other operators’ needs for storage sites.”

What do you think is CLIMIT’s most important contribution to the green transformation?

“CCS represents a technology and value chain that will ensure the transition from fossil fuels to a society based on renewable energy. That’s why CLIMIT has been an important instrument for research and development both at early phases and for industrial projects. Now that CCS is being realised as an industry at full-scale, there will clearly be a need for more efficient and cost-effective technologies that support these efforts. CLIMIT will continue to be extremely relevant if the programme is primarily aimed at meeting this need. I have experienced little disagreement on the Programme Board that this should be the future strategic direction for CLIMIT.”

What should CLIMIT prioritise in terms of technology development in the future – where are the gaps?

“In principle, anything that could lead to an acceleration in the processes for investment in carbon capture and storage for industry at as low a cost as possible. In my opinion, the risks of depositing CO₂ in geological formations are low, but further documentation of the safety of the reservoirs is still important to speed up CCS efforts.”

“So for some years, we on the Programme Board have both wanted and called for more research into the societal impacts of CCS, that is to say, what significance these efforts will have on value creation and employment in Norway. A limited socioeconomic analysis of Longship has been carried out. However, we need more information – not least for politicians and the general public to understand how important and significant these efforts are for the climate and our common good. It’s possible that CLIMIT’s calls for project proposals have not been clear enough to address this need. I’m therefore taking this opportunity to challenge socioeconomic research communities to develop strong project applications that provide us with the knowledge and analyses we need.”

What needs do you see for the CLIMIT programme over the next five years?

“If we are successful in stimulating research and technology development based on experience from full-scale projects in Norway, Europe and the USA, the CLIMIT programme will also be able to fulfil an important mission in the years ahead. For the CCS industry, process learning will be tremendously important going forward.”