On the 2nd of December, our Secretary General, Anastasios Perimenis, was a speaker on the panel titled ‘Carbon crunch time: removals, storage, can Europe have it all?’, at the POLITICO Sustainable Week event. The panel was completed by Christian Holzleitner (Head of Unit for Low Carbon Solutions: Land Economy & Carbon Removals at DG CLIMA, European Commission), Anders Egelrud (Chief Executive Officer at Stockholm Exergi), and Eadbhard Pernot (Secretary General at Zero Emissions Platform). The discussion was moderated by Federica Di Sario, Climate Reporter at POLITICO.
In a discussion on carbon capture, examining removal and storage, Anastasios introduced a third critical pillar: utilisation and carbon circularity. He emphasised that CO₂ conversion technologies must be mobilised alongside removal and storage efforts to reach EU climate goals and provide alternative carbon feedstock for essential products. While most Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) lead to emission reductions, one pathway leads to carbon removals: when carbon is captured from the atmosphere or biogenic sources and stored in mineralisation products.
Anastasios highlighted that “CCU brings back carbon in industrial production systems” and plays a key role in defossilising the economy. A crucial element in launching projects is the EU Innovation Fund, which provides financial support for CCU projects, enabling investments from the private sector. To upscale and expand the deployment of these technologies, our Secretary General called for consistent EU legislations to unlock further investments.
