WP6Social Acceptance

D6.1 - Regulatory framework for CCUS in the EU and its Member States: An analysis for the EU, six Member States and the UK

In the present report, the political, legislative and financial support system for CCU, but mainly for CCS activities on the EU‐level along with seven Member States and the UK are being analysed. The countries studied comprise the PilotSTRATEGY countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Poland and Greece) and in addition the Netherlands as a Member State and the UK, both as countries more advanced on developing frameworks for CCS. The report highlights the role of EU legislation in the context of development of CCS projects in the Member States. In addition, it analyses the transposition of EU legislation into national law and provides information on further national legislation or support instruments relevant in the context.

D6.2 - Community Acceptance: Findings from community profiles and first local survey

This deliverable by PilotSTRATEGY WP6 on Social Acceptance and Community Engagement reports work on understanding societal contexts in the regions under study in this Horizon 2020 project.WP6 has so far focussed on characterizing the overall setting in which the discussions around potential geological storage of CO2 take place. In a next step, WP6 will centre on actual engagement and participation with key stakeholders and other members of local communities.

D6.2 - Annex 1: Media Analysis Report

D6.2 - Annex 2: Interview Report

D6.2 - Annex 3: Survey findings

D6.3 Citizen engagement strategy

The main objective of this document is to design a hybrid consultation and research strategy to be implemented in the study regions, with the aim of gathering local public views on CCS technologies and a potential CO2 storage project in the region, and to improve the quality of public engagement with CCS projects. The findings and conclusions from the research will provide valuable insights for future CCS projects, as well as inform the development of future public engagement strategies. The activity serves as a valuable tool for the scientific community, policy makers, and stakeholders in the energy sector, as it sheds light on the critical importance of public engagement and community involvement in the development of CCS technologies.

D6.5 Summary report on public acceptance

The PilotSTRATEGY Deliverable 6.5 report presents the results from the citizen engagement and public perception activities conducted across three European regions—Portugal, Spain, and France— between 2023 and 2025. These activities were designed to evaluate perceptions of geological carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage (CCS) and to identify conditions under which communities might support or oppose its development. The findings provide valuable insights into the social dimensions of CCS, which alongside technical and economic considerations are essential for its successful deployment.

Methodological Approach
The engagement activities combined qualitative and quantitative methods tailored to each study region’s specific context. Portugal employed format experimentation, including workshops and interactive exhibitions around a potential offshore storage site. Spain implemented reconvened focus groups in rural municipalities to enable informed deliberation over time. France adopted an organic approach, leveraging open-door meetings and community partnerships initiated during a seismic campaign to foster ongoing dialogue. Additionally, surveys were conducted across regions to assess public attitudes, familiarity with CCS, and influential factors shaping social acceptance.

Key insights include:
 Social acceptance as conditional contract: Communities tend to express conditional acceptance of CCS projects, often emphasizing the importance of safety, tangible benefits, transparency, and meaningful involvement in decision-making.
 Trust through institutional design: Building trust may require credible mechanisms such as binding agreements, oversight committees, and open communication channels to address concerns rooted in historical experiences of unmet promises.
 Territorial justice concerns: Addressing fairness issues related to the distribution of local burdens and global benefits appears to be a critical aspect for fostering acceptance in affected communities.
 Technical and social feasibility: Alignment between technical viability and community willingness is likely to be an important factor for the successful implementation of CCS projects.
 Methodological diversity: Engagement approaches should aim to adapt to regional contexts and conditions, as standardized protocols may not address local specificities effectively.
 Low initial knowledge as opportunity: Limited familiarity with CCS may provide an opportunity for meaningful dialogue before positions become entrenched.
 Sustained engagement fosters evolution: Repeated interactions over time show how meaningful dialogue requires time while all relationships take place in a larger context which may hinder or delay such dialogue.
 Tangible, verifiable, and fair benefits: Communities generally expect benefits from CCS projects to be clear, measurable, and equitably distributed, with mechanisms in place to ensure their delivery.

D6.6 Revised Analysis of Policy Alignment

Due to the relative high degree of innovativeness, the realization of a Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU) or a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project requires a positive strategic, legislative and financial supporting framework from policy. The political strategy to aim for ambitious climate targets is a pre-condition for the application of CCU and CCS technologies in a Member State. Legislation regulates the operation of capture, transport and storage sites. A well-defined framework is highly relevant for operators to know the risks and potential costs related to a project, to know their own responsibilities and responsibilities of others, expectations by the competent authorities and making clear the roles of all participants in the whole project. Furthermore, such a framework is useful to citizens who wish to assess the regulatory steps and timelines and understand their own opportunities for input. As well, such a framework helps the authorities to take adequate decisions in granting procedures in decent time. Financial support is needed as long as the current CO₂ price itself is not sufficient to make the application of CCU or CCS technologies economically viable. Although it is to be expected that costs for CCU and CCS activities will fall over time when it moves from being a very innovative first-of-a-kind application to a more mainstream technology, in particular the first-of-a-kind applications require specific support to cover for high costs under high risks. At the same time, a strong CO2 price in the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) (in February 2022 prices reached levels as high as 90€/t CO2, more recently prices in 2025 vary between 60 and 85 €/t CO2 with a slight upward trend) along with the expectation that CO2 prices will remain
high in the future, and a clear signal that there will be a market for low-CO2-products present strong financial incentives to invest into CCU and CCS projects.

In the present report, the political, legislative and financial support system for CCU, but mainly for CCS activities on the EU-level along with seven Member States and the UK are analysed, with attention to updates that may have taken place since the first edition of this deliverable was issued in 2022. The countries studied comprise the PilotSTRATEGY countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Poland and Greece) and in addition the Netherlands as a Member State and the UK, both as countries more advanced on developing frameworks for CCS. The report highlights the role of EU legislation in the context of development of CCS projects in the Member States. In addition, it analyses the transposition of EU legislation into national law and provides information on further national legislation or support instruments relevant in the context. It shows that while countries such as the UK and the Netherlands have put a strong political focus on the development of CCS clusters, other Member States so far can mainly refer to what has been developed on the EU level, making it clear that developing own CCS or CCU projects within the country require significant additional efforts on the legislative framework. Clear political signals along with additional national support instruments can help the development of project initiatives.