Irish semi-state Ervia said on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Norwegian energy company, Equinor, to assess the potential for Ireland to benefit from a new technology aimed at safely storing carbon emissions underground.
Known as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), it prevents emissions from entering the atmosphere and causing climate change, by storing them safely underground. Equinor is a world leader in CCS technology, having successfully delivered projects in this area over the past 20 years.
Cathal Marley, interim CEO of Ervia, said that the agreement "is a key step forward in Ireland playing a role in developing the potential of CCS technology, which has been recognised by the European Commission and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as being critical to the achievement of climate targets."
Ervia will now work with Equinor and the Norwegian Government’s wider “Northern Lights” project, which aims to drive CCS development across Europe. If successful, the project would see carbon emissions from Ireland’s electricity production and large industry captured and exported via ship to be permanently stored in Norway’s vast geological reserves in the North Sea.
Up to 100 per cent of the carbon emissions from gas powered electricity generation can be captured through CCS, meaning Ireland can continue to benefit from the reliability of gas in a low carbon future.
