European Parliament Breakfast Briefing on

Carbon Capture & Storage and Energy Security

Event Conclusions
10 October 2014
On 24 September 2014, MEP Judith Kirton-Darling hosted a Breakfast Briefing in the European
Parliament on Carbon Capture & Storage and Energy security, which was co-hosted by MEP
Krijnis Kari and organised by the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP).
The programme included the following speakers: MEP Jude Kirton-Darling (S&D, UK); Paula AbreuMarques, Head of Unit Renewables and CCS Policy, DG Energy (European Commission); Dr
Graeme Sweeney, Chairman of ZEP; Dr Reinhold Elsen, Vice Chair ZEP and Vice President
Research & Development, RWE; Dzintars Kauli, Energy Counsellor at the Latvian Permanent
Representation to the EU; Jonas Helseth, Director at The Bellona Foundation; and MEP Krijnis
Kari (EPP, LV).

Interventions
MEP Jude Kirton-Darling (S&D, UK) praised the achievements of ZEP, stressing that it is a key
platform to support the CCS agenda. She called on the members of ZEP to continue their efforts
to raise awareness on CCS in the recently renewed European Parliament, especially ahead of the
upcoming debates on the 2030 energy and climate package.
Paula Abreu-Marques, Head of Unit Renewables and CCS Policy, DG Energy (European
Commission) welcomed the continuation of the European Parliaments interest in CCS.
Furthermore, she stressed that CCS must remain a key component in Europes energy security
strategies, as it is offers the solution to maintain a diversified energy mix while supporting Europes
climate commitments. She called on the Informal Energy Council and on the European Council to
extend their support to CCS within the 2030 discussions, adding that the role of Member States
and of the private sector will be key to enabling the deployment of CCS.
Dr Graeme Sweeney, Chairman of ZEP, highlighted the contribution of CCS to a secure,
affordable and sustainable European energy system. Calling for a robust CO2 price, Dr Sweeney
stressed that CCS will be key to meeting the 2050 climate objectives in a cost effective way, while
helping to maintain jobs and industrial basis in Europe. He called on the European institutions to
renew their support to CCS in order to give Europe its leadership back, stressing that regions such
as Canada have now overtaken Europe in terms of CCS deployment.
Dr Reinhold Elsen, Vice Chair ZEP and Vice President Research & Development, RWE Generation,
emphasised that CCS is an essential technology to reconcile EU energy security with Europes

energy and climate protection objectives. Warning against the risks of keeping a business as
usual model, Dr Elsen underlined that CCS is the lowest cost route for decarbonising Europe,
according to ZEPs latest market modelling. Stating that coal- and gas-fired power plants will
continue to play a major role in the EU energy mix, he called for a long-term partnership between
fossil fuels and renewable energy sources to be ensured by further developing and deploying
CCS. For not missing the window of opportunity of CCS, he emphasised the need for sound
market conditions, transitional support measures as well as strategic planning of large scale
Europe-wide CO2 infrastructure.
Dzintars Kauli, Energy Counsellor at the Latvian Permanent Representation to the EU, described
the completion of the European Internal energy Market, the European Energy Security Strategy
and the 2030 energy and climate framework as the three tentative priotirites within the energy
policy of the upcoming Latvian Council Presidency. While recognising the role of CCS within the
2020 energy and climate package, Mr Kauli stressed that the presence of three different targets
ended up diluting support for CCS. He highlighted that more support for CCS would be easier to
achieve in case of a single CO2 target for 2030.
Jonas Helseth, Director at The Bellona Foundation, outlined why an environmental NGO sees the
rollout of CCS in Europe as necessary to reach Europes energy and climate targets. He stressed
the potential of both CCS and renewables in addressing the climate change challenges while
generating economic benefits for Europe. He further made the point that CCS is the only
technology that can reduce inherent emissions of energy intensive industries as well as lead to
carbon negative emissions in combination with sustainable bioenergy, highlighting ZEPs two
reports on these areas.
Closing the debate, MEP Krijnis Kari (EPP, LV) stressed the urgent need to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. While recognising the potential of renewables in addressing climate change, he
stressed that CCS will allow for the use of a more diversified energy mix while making progress
towards reaching Europes climate objectives. Concluding that CCS must benefit from a high
carbon price, he questioned how far public intervention can go in terms of modifying the current
state of the EU ETS and called for a broad and integrated vision of the future EU energy and
climate policy framework, including economic parameters and industrial competitiveness.