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New paper: Geological carbon storage and climate action in north-western Greece

The urgent need to address Greece’s carbon emissions in line with Paris Agreement commitments is explored in a new paper focusing on the high carbon dioxide (CO2) storage potential of the Mesohellenic Trough, a geological basin in north-western Greece.

The region of West Macedonia in northern Greece is one of the country’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The area has two active coal-fired power plants, to be retired by 2023 and 2025, respectively, and is also home to other industries, such as cement production.

Research underpinning the paper has been conducted by STRATEGY CCUS partners from the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) and the University of Patras in Greece, the French Geological Survey, BRGM, and the University of Évora in Portugal.

The authors describe how carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) provides a transitional path from fossil fuel use towards more sustainable energy production, which fits with current policy reform and available technology and geology.

The Mesohellenic Trough, located in West Macedonia, could provide CO2 storage amounting to 1.13 gigatonnes in the form of the Pentalofos and Eptachori geological formations; estimates suggest the former could hold 1.02Gt of CO2 and the latter 0.13Gt.

Other geological CO2 storage potential is explored in the paper, which also includes a review of state-of-the-art CCUS technologies and possible zones and transport routes, which will be essential for the deployment of the climate technology.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage as a Defense Tool Against Climate Change: Current Developments in West Macedonia (Greece), which was published this week in Energies, is freely available for download here.

Words: Indira Mann, SCCS

Image: Geological map and stratigraphic column of Mesohellenic Trough (Brunn, 1956 and Koukouzas et al, 2018)