Net Zero Industry Act: an Important Initiative, but a Missed Opportunity to Define CCU Projects as ‘Strategic’

On the 16th of March 2023, the European Commission released the Net Zero Industry Act, a new legislation to speed up the deployment of clean technologies in Europe, sending a strong political signal for Europe to accelerate its climate transition.

The Act categorises net-zero technologies into two groups based on their Technology Readiness Level (TRL), both of which include Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU), and provides a number of incentives for ramping up those technologies. A third category called ‘strategic’ projects, which in the case of carbon capture includes only CCS technologies. These strategic projects will receive additional incentives to be deployed.

CO₂ Value Europe calls for CCU projects to be included in the ‘strategic’ category with the same conditions that apply to other technologies. CCU technologies can contribute to the EU’s independence from fossil resources, reduce emissions, increase circularity in manufacturing systems, and maintain the EU’s leading role in cleantech.

Leaving CCU out of the ‘strategic’ category would contradict the EU own legislative objectives, with a number of legislations and initiatives (REDIII, SustainableCarbonCycles, ETS, CarbonRemovals, etc.) recognising the contribution from CCU to climate objectives and setting quotas and targets for CCU deployment in specific sectors, including aviation, shipping, chemicals and other hard-to-abate industries. The Innovation Fund as well has supported several CCU projects, some of which are already commercially mature within the EU, confirming CCU projects can deliver climate benefits under the criteria of EU authorities.

Therefore, CO₂ Value Europe urges EU policymakers to include CCU in the strategic net-zero technologies list so that CCU projects can benefit from the priority status and realise their potential for emission reductions and carbon circularity in Europe.

Read the full statement here.