Let’s first remind that the EFG Panel of Experts on CCS was initially part of the “Panel of Experts on Geothermal Energy and CO2 Sequestration”, before becoming an entirely independent Panel on CO2 storage in October 2008. The mission of this Panel of Experts lines up with the objectives of EFG, which is to represent, safeguard and promote the geological profession, promoting best practices and responsible use of resources, and establishing policies on environmental matters and sustainability. Moreover, the Panel has over 10 members and is coordinated by Nikolaos Koukouzas since 2020.
The Panel has been very active by monitoring the EU policy on CCS and Hydrogen geological storage, by publishing sector-related reports and articles and organising events with the aim to a better understanding of CCS geological storage and enhancinge knowledge sharing between stakeholders. In 2020, the Panel produced a State-of-the-art report which introduced carbon sequestration technologies in use or being investigated, especially in the energy industry. The report also underlined the importance of earth sciences in many of the energy-related technologies, and the essential role geoscientists and geoengineers have to play in sustainable development and energy transition.
To reflect the rapidly rising interest in Hydrogen and related storage facilities, and the synergies with present work in the area of CO2 storage, the EFG Panel of Experts on CCS has officially broadened its scope in autumn 2022. The Panel is now entitled “CO2 and Hydrogen Geological Storage”. The current development of CO2, natural hydrogen exploration and Hydrogen geological storage makes these objectives highly relevant for the topic of energy storage. The success of CCS will largely depend on how reliably CO2 can and will be stored, while the new era to Hydrogen relies on Hydrogen geological storage and the various colors for hydrogen, justifying the dedicated mission of the PE CO2 and Hydrogen Geological Storage: emphasising the role of professional geologists and the importance of the geological perspective in the overall concept of CO2 and Hydrogen storage.
How is Geology linked to hydrogen and the energy transition? In fact, Geology is an essential tool in the energy transition. Firstly, massive amount of hydrogen is going to be needed to supplant conventional energy resources. Secondly, massive amounts of volumes is going to be needed to store the produced hydrogen. This is where geology will play its role through geological hydrogen storage units. To learn more about the link between geology, hydrogen and the energy transition, watch the following video : “Hydrogen in the Energy Transition – EFG’s vision”
To conclude, it is noteworthy to mention that Glen Burridge, EFG’s Executive Director, will give a talk on the potential of natural hydrogen on day 2 of the upcoming 2nd Europe CCUS & Hydrogen Decarbonisation Summit. More precisely, he will be speaking at the session entitled ‘End user implementation of Hydrogen’. The Summit will take place from 8 to 9 February 2023 in Brussels. The event aims to assess and review the opportunities within the EU Energy Sector and review the different hydrogen road maps set out by the European Commission and different European Countries. The conference will also review how CCU & CCS can decarbonise the energy-intensive sectors that are hard to decarbonise while creating a circular carbon economy. As EFG is a media partner of the event, members of EFG’s National Associations may benefit from a discount on the registration fees.
