About CO₂ Hub Europe
System architecture for Europe’s CO₂ infrastructure
Europe’s challenge is not primarily technological. It is structural.
The binding constraint for large-scale CCS deployment is access to reliable, interconnected, and cross-border transport and storage systems. These systems must function as shared infrastructure — not as isolated projects.
CO₂ Hub Europe works at this system level.
Our Focus
We analyse the structural conditions required for a functioning European CO₂ transport and storage market, with particular attention to:
- Cross-border coordination and recognition
- Infrastructure sequencing and scale risk
- Storage availability and maturity constraints
- Access regimes and tariff principles
- Long-term liability allocation
- MRV compatibility and regulatory alignment
- Risk distribution across the value chain
- Interfaces between EU and Member State competences
Our work is grounded in the view that CO₂ infrastructure should be treated as a shared European system, analogous to energy networks, where coordination and governance design determine cost efficiency and resilience.
Why This Matters
EU climate policy increasingly assumes rapid scale-up of CO₂ transport and storage.
However, mismatches between capture incentives, infrastructure availability, and regulatory clarity risk:
- Cost inflation
- Concentrated system risk
- Fragmented development
- Geographic imbalances
- Delayed emissions reductions
CO₂ Hub Europe focuses on clarifying these structural dependencies before they materialise as policy or market failure.
Public Platform & Advisory Function
CO₂ Hub Europe operates both:
A public-facing platform, providing system-level analysis and policy framing; and
A closed-door advisory function, supporting policymakers, infrastructure developers, and industrial actors in clarifying governance architecture, sequencing risk, and cross-border exposure in early-stage CO₂ infrastructure markets.
In both modes, credibility, neutrality, and system integrity take precedence over advocacy.
Operating Principles
EU climate policy increasingly assumes rapid scale-up of CO₂ transport and storage.
However, mismatches between capture incentives, infrastructure availability, and regulatory clarity risk:
- Structural over technological framing
- European system perspective
- Clear distinction between EU and Member States roles
- Explicit treatment of uncertainty
- Avoidance of project promotion og commercial bias
CO₂ Hub Europe prioritises analytical discipline and long-term system integrity over short-term acceleration narratives.
