CCS fantasy impedes Denmark’s transition and the upcoming revised NECP should address this issue.

– The Danish government heavily invested in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) hoping to deliver a technological fix to the green transition.

– The project provides a massive subsidy to the most polluting sectors of the Danish economy.

– It’s an expensive add-on to maintaining emissions, and there is a very real threat that the Danish CCS-strategy will maintain emissions that without the CCS investment would otherwise have been stopped.

The Danish government is heavily invested in the hope of a technological fix in form of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Denmark has assigned a total of €5bn in state subsidies (roughly 817DKK per ton) in the pursuit of achieving 3,2MT CCS per year by 2030. The project provides a massive subsidy to the most polluting sectors of the Danish economy.

Recently the Danish cement factory – Aalborg Portland – withdrew from the governments CCS-programme despite the massive subsidies. Aalborg Portland is alone responsible for about 2.2 MT CO2, 5% of total Danish emissions, this is why the CCS was applied to the cement factory. After the withdrawal of the cement factory, the costly CCS efforts are now directed to biomass, heat, power and waste incineration.

Windmills and solar are being scaled globally because they deliver the cheapest and cleanest power. CCS holds no such promises and no fairy tale potential: it’s an expensive add-on to maintaining emissions. In fact, to provide 3,2 MT CO2 in 2030, Denmark would have to actively preserve smokestack emissions, as current projections show that Denmark otherwise will mostly have diffuse emission left after 2030.

Thus, there is a very real threat that the Danish CCS-strategy will maintain emissions that – without the CCS investment – would otherwise have been stopped. In addition to a large economic cost to the Danish taxpayers the Danish CCS strategy also:

- Maintain/increase biomass burning.
- Maintaining waste incineration.
- Result in less incentive to electrify industry.