Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
3/27/2015
The European Union will work to develop an energy union based on a European Commission framework released last month, the EU announced late last week. The European Council wrote that “the EU is committed to building an Energy Union with a forward-looking climate policy on the basis of the Commission’s framework strategy, whose five dimensions are closely interrelated and mutually reinforcing (energy security, solidarity and trust; a fully integrated European energy market; energy efficiency contributing to moderation of demand; decarbonising the economy; and research, innovation and competitiveness).”
In its conclusion on the energy union package, the Council noted that a focus was placed on various aspects of the package including “developing an energy and climate-related technology and innovation strategy, including for example on the next generation of renewables, on electricity storage and carbon capture and storage, on improving energy efficiency in the housing sector as well as on sustainable transport.”
The European Commission’s Energy Union Package calls for a number of actions to be taken to drive innovation in carbon capture and storage technology. The package calls for, “A forward-looking approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and use (CCU) for the power and industrial sectors, which will be critical to reaching the 2050 climate objectives in a cost-effective way. This will require an enabling policy framework, including a reform of the Emissions Trading System and the new Innovation Fund, to increase business and investor clarity, which is needed to further develop this technology.”
