Cementir Group, through its subsidiary Aalborg Portland, is likely to become the first global cement producer to capture, transport and store CO₂ underground. The Group is part of the consortium Project Greensand 2 that seeks funding for a pilot project aimed at capturing and storing CO₂ underground in the North Sea.

The endeavours to reach the Danish national target of a 70 percent reduction of carbon emissions in 2030 may now receive a great boost through Project Greensand 2. The project aim is to make a practical demonstration of how carbon can be captured and stored in drained oil fields in the North Sea, testing the value-chain from start to finish. 

Besides Aalborg Portland, the project includes Ineos Oil & Gas Denmark, Wintershall Dea, Maersk Drilling, GEUS and more than 20 businesses, research institutes and universities. 
 
Aalborg Portland belongs an industry where carbon-neutral production is not possible with the technologies currently available. This means that carbon capture and storage is an option worth looking into, and Group R&D Director Jesper Sand Damtoft eyes great potential in the project:

- Carbon capture and storage is a necessary technology if we are to reach carbon neutrality. We have uncovered the possibilities of carbon capture over the past couple of years, and now we hope to take a big step further, starting as soon as next year, by testing it in practice. In addition, it is important to note that we concurrently work to reduce our ongoing emissions, he explains.

Provided the pilot project succeeds, this will be the first carbon capture and storage project in Europe to demonstrate the value chain all the way from cement production to storage. Both Denmark and the EU have set ambitious goals for carbon capture and storage: it is estimated that up to 300 gigatons carbon can be stored in the EU alone. According to preliminary calculations from The Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, the Danish part of the North Sea will be able to store up to 16 gigatons of carbon:

- There is no doubt that carbon capture and storage has great potential. It is paramount, however, that carbon capture becomes financially sustainable. The establishment of capture facilities, transformation from carbon to gas and transport to the North Sea all require great investments from a business such as ours, and the realization of the climate potential thus depends greatly on financial support, remarks Jesper Sand Damtoft.

Project Greensand is currently finalizing a EUDP application to make initiation of the project possible.