\u201cThe green transition is not easy, but it is possible,\u201d said Terje Aasland, Norway\u2019s ministry of energy as he started the project.<\/p>\n
![\"Northern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/93541be6-ecf2-488b-be3a-60041fbf1ec7.jpg\")
Norway is hoping that companies will help develop multiple pipelines across Europe to lower the transportation costs \u00a9 Ruben Soltvedt<\/p>\n
Proponents of CCS argue that it is the most promising solution for so-called hard-to-abate sectors \u2014 such as cement, steel and coal-fired power \u2014 to eliminate their emissions. But critics contend that it is a costly process, difficult to scale and dependent on massive subsidies. These are often difficult for most cash-strapped governments to provide, except for the likes of Norway, western Europe\u2019s largest petroleum producer and home to the world\u2019s largest sovereign wealth fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, this project would have been impossible without the support of the Norwegian government. The risk would have just been too high,\u201d said Dominik von Achten, chief executive of Heidelberg Materials, the German industrial group.<\/p>\n
He told the Financial Times that it had debated marketing its \u201cevoZero\u201d product as something other than cement as it tries to justify a high but unspecified green premium for the product.<\/p>\n
The Longship project will capture about 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from its Brevik plant and from 2029 is set to add 350,000 tonnes from a municipal waste plant in Oslo. Norway\u2019s government on Tuesday gave the green light for the second part of the project, which will increase the storage capacity from 1.5mn tonnes under the sea to 5mn tonnes.<\/p>\n
Europe has struggled to compete in certain green technologies, including batteries, as governments have hesitated over giving generous state support to companies such as Northvolt, which went bankrupt in Sweden earlier this year.<\/p>\n
![\"Northern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/c9f1f671-0e72-4e3c-b56a-641b61e1836f.jpg\")
The cost of the Longship project for the first 10 years is estimated at $3.4bn \u00a9 Ruben Soltvedt<\/p>\n
Jens Stoltenberg, Norway\u2019s current finance minister, called CCS the Nordic country\u2019s \u201cmoon landing\u201d when he launched a big project in 2007 but it was subsequently cancelled due to spiralling costs.<\/p>\n
Both Aasland and von Achten declined to say exactly how long it will take for subsidies to no longer be needed. But the Norwegian minister said that the price of carbon permits in Europe could become so high that it would be commercial within about 10-15 years.<\/p>\n
Norway is hoping that companies such as Equinor will help develop a series of pipelines across Europe to lower the cost of transporting carbon dioxide from emitting factories on the continent to the North Sea.<\/p>\n
Albert R\u00f6sti, Switzerland\u2019s energy minister, said on Tuesday that CCS was \u201ctoo expensive\u201d for his landlocked country and that it would be the \u201clast step\u201d to meeting climate targets<\/a> after easier measures such as cutting transport emissions. Nonetheless, he added: \u201cIt is not only theory, but Norway has gone to action.\u201d<\/p>\n Climate Capital Where climate change meets business, markets and politics.\u00a0Explore the FT\u2019s coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/384cfd92-a50b-4bce-9d00-ffdbff93b8ec.jpg\")
<\/p>\n