What role for CCS in delivering just transitions? An evaluation in the North Sea region

• Published in: International journal of greenhouse gas control 2020-03, Vol.94, p.102903, Article 102903
• Main Authors: Swennenhuis, Floris, Mabon, Leslie, Flach, Todd Allyn, de Coninck, Heleen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ACORN project; Carbon dioxide capture and storage; Just transition; Regional development; Regional policy; Stakeholder understanding
• ISSN: 1750-5836; 1878-0148
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.102903

•Just transition is increasingly seen as a frame for the energy transition in regions that rely on carbon-intensive industry.•The question is whether CO2 capture and storage (CCS) could be included in that frame and could be seen as helping a just transition.•Interviews are conducted with stakeholders including industry, government, ENGOs and trade unions.•CCS may fit in a just transition narrative in north-east Scotland but less so in Rijnmond (Netherlands) and even less in Norway.•A better evidence base of whether and how CCS can support local employment, economy and communities can clarify the role of CCS in a just transition. This paper assesses the role of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in addressing challenges in the energy transition in regions reliant on carbon-intensive industries for employment and as an economic base. The assessment is based on semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders and experts in the Aberdeen area in Scotland, the Rotterdam harbour (or Rijnmond) area in the Netherlands, and in Norway. The interviews explored challenges around the role of CCS in regional ‘just transitions’, or how to make the transformation of regions relying on carbon-intensive industries to a low-carbon society fair. While significant differences in responses between the Aberdeen area, the Rijnmond area and Norway were found, a common understanding showed that for CCS to contribute to a just transition it has to (a) make a contribution to climate change imperatives; (b) help to mitigate the economic and employment effects arising from declining or maturing industries; and (c) be undertaken in a manner that helps to redress (or at least does not increase) uneven vulnerabilities and inequalities in society. Five key themes that characterise the opportunities and challenges for CCS from a just transition perspective were drawn from the interviews: Skills for a just transition, transition as an opportunity, responsibility, scale of action and viability. We recommend that these are added to earlier work on barriers and enablers of CCS in areas relying on fossil industry.