France plans to test “four or five CO2 storage projects” in former oil fields from the beginning of 2025 to accelerate the decarbonization of certain industries which can hardly eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions, the delegated ministry announced on Thursday. to Industry.
Minister Roland Lescure will launch on Friday Sens a call for expressions of interest from hydrocarbon players so that they can propose projects for burying CO2 in former oil deposits, or even aquifer gas storage, indicated his office the AFP.
France has storage potential given the presence of deposits, mainly in the Paris basin and the Aquitaine basin, some of which, still in activity, are authorized to produce until 2040. France still produces today 1 % of the oil it consumes.
The potential on existing hydrocarbon concessions at the national level is estimated at around 800 million tonnes of CO2, which would make it possible to cover 50 years of the CO2 storage needs of French industry over the long term, according to the Deputy Minister of Industry. and Energy.
This step marks the completion of the launch of France’s storage strategy, indicated the minister’s office. It is part of the ecological planning and decarbonization work of the industry, the objective of which, set by the Elysee Palace, is to halve its emissions of gases warming the atmosphere in 10 years.
Once potential sites have been reported by companies, by July 26, a call for projects phase will be open until December. The objective is that at the beginning of 2025, carbon storage will be tested in four or five places in France, said the minister.
Carbon capture and storage is one of the solutions seen as necessary by experts to contain global warming, provided that it is not used as a license to continue polluting.
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