The gap between carbon storage development and capture demand

The analysis identifies a significant gap between announced CO2 capture ambitions and the development of geological storage capacity in Europe, particularly in the short term. While Europe possesses a theoretical storage potential of approximately 507 Gt, the time required to develop storage sites (5 to 15 years) lags behind the faster implementation of capture projects. By 2025, a shortage of around 15 Mt/year is expected, and by 2030, the gap widens to approximately 40 Mt/year, with available capacity meeting only half of the 82 Mt/year demand. The report notes that many capture projects are concentrated in industrial clusters, but several countries—including Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, and Sweden—have no announced storage projects despite capture ambitions, necessitating cross-border storage solutions.

• There is a significant temporal mismatch between the development of CO2 storage sites, which take between 5 and 15 years, and the faster implementation of CO2 capture projects.
• A substantial shortage of developed storage capacity is projected for 2025 and 2030, with the 2030 gap leaving only enough capacity to satisfy 50% of the 82 Mt/year demand.
• While Europe has a theoretical geological storage potential of approximately 507 Gt, much of the planned offshore capacity is concentrated on the continental shelves of the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway.
• Several European countries have announced capture ambitions but lack announced storage projects due to geological constraints, legal prohibitions on onshore storage, or a lack of site characterization.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (n.d.). The gap between carbon storage development and capture demand. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/11074424/CATF_CarbonCapture_StorageGap_Paper_Proof_01.10.22.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. The gap between carbon storage development and capture demand. n.d. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/11074424/CATF_CarbonCapture_StorageGap_Paper_Proof_01.10.22.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=The gap between carbon storage development and capture demand |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/11074424/CATF_CarbonCapture_StorageGap_Paper_Proof_01.10.22.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforcendgap, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{The gap between carbon storage development and capture demand}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/11074424/CATF_CarbonCapture_StorageGap_Paper_Proof_01.10.22.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }