CO2 capture research in the Netherlands

Abstract

The global climate is changing due to human activities. This human‑induced climate change is mainly caused by global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Most scientists agree that in order to mitigate climate change, by 2050, global CO2 emissions must be reduced by at least 50% compared to their 1990 level. Fossil fuels, however, are expected to continue playing a dominant role in the world energy supply far into this century. As yet, the combined effect of improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy (and perhaps nuclear power) cannot achieve the required reductions in CO2 emissions. Therefore, CO2 capture and storage (CCS) may become an important (third) option for mitigating climate change. The Dutch government has the ambition to build two large scale demonstration projects by 2015.