Carbon storage is a new danger for Norwegian marine nature
Our oceans are already under enormous pressure. Norway has played a leading role in the World Oceans Panel and advocated for better ocean protection. But we are also one of the very few countries left that dumps mining waste at sea, while the government is eager to open up vast areas of ocean to seabed mining, despite opposition from scientists and civil society around the world.
Carbon capture and storage at sea comes on top of all this and puts even more pressure on marine nature and industries that already use the sea. Norway wants to not only store CO2 from Norwegian sources, but also import carbon from European projects.
CO₂ storage turns the greenhouse gas into a new industrial waste product. We are shifting the problem from the atmosphere to the seabed – with no guarantee that it will disappear for good. When CO2 is transported out and pumped down to the seabed, it requires interventions in nature to create infrastructure and measures to fix any problems such as leaks. And for this to contribute to achieving climate targets, the storage must be permanent, which requires monitoring far into the future. Future generations will once again be left with a waste problem created in our time. This could harm nature and disrupt other, more sustainable activities that depend on the ocean.
Leaks of CO2 at sea, either during transport or from storage areas, could threaten vulnerable marine ecosystems through acidification, among other things. Carbon capture and storage requires many of the same interventions as offshore oil extraction, including seismic shooting.
Already now, with a few small projects operating, carbon capture is leading to interference with nature. To enable the transport of CO2 from Oslo by ship, it has required blasting and dredging in Oslo Fjord, which according to the Municipal Planning and Building Agency can have “very large and significantly negative consequences for nature and the environment in Oslo Fjord”.
Norway’s existing carbon capture projects that enable increased gas recovery, Sleipner and Snøhvit, experienced major technical challenges due to the unpredictability of the subsea geology where CO2 is stored. This has required major investments, and suggests that the lessons learned from these model projects may not necessarily be transferable to other projects with different geology.
Carbon capture poses risks to people and society
Fulfilling the government’s and Equinor’s dream of large-scale carbon capture in Norway and Europe also requires interventions that may pose risks to people, including a large network of CO2 pipes. The EU’s carbon capture plans involve 19,000 kilometers of pipes through some of Europe’s most densely populated areas.
When CO2 leaks from CO2 pipes in high concentrations, it can form large clouds that linger for a long time in low-lying areas (as CO2 is heavier than air). This poses a risk of asphyxiation and can cause combustion engines to stall, further endangering people near CO2 infrastructure.
Although there are few carbon capture projects in the world, there have been several leaks from CO2 pipes that led to major poisoning accidents, such as in Mississippi and Louisiana. In the United States, leaks from CO2 pipes are more common than other types of pipes. The IPCC has warned of the many negative impacts that large-scale carbon capture development could have on people and the environment.
Large-scale use of carbon capture could also lead to a doubling of the world’s water consumption, as well as using large amounts of energy.