Deployment of CO2 capture and storage in Europe under limited public acceptance—An energy system perspective

Abstract

In this paper we analyse how in Europe large-scale deployment of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology may be hindered by limited public acceptance. We develop scenarios for how public acceptance may constrain the diffusion of CCS, either by reducing the overall amount of installable CCS capacity or by delaying its introduction, and show with an integrated assessment model how the type of limitation in CCS acceptance can critically impact the development of all sectors in the overall energy system over time. We also demonstrate that a reduction or delay in CCS diffusion as a result of critical public opinion can have substantial energy system impacts that differ across not only the nature of acceptance profile but also the sector(s) in which limited public acceptance materializes. Applying a constraint to CCS deployment in both industry and the power sector simultaneously leads to an energy system that is fundamentally different from the one that emerges if the constraint is only applied to the power sector. Depending on how and where CCS diffusion is constrained, net additional annual energy system costs in 2050 can vary between -50 billion up to nearly 800 billon $/yr.