Heavyweights meet to discuss Rogaland’s CO2 future
- Redaktør
- Apr 28
- 5 min read
In order to reach ambitious climate goals of an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, The City of Stavanger is taking the initiative to realize a complete value chain for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the region.
At Innoasis in Stavanger, the public sector, academia, and the business community have gathered for an intensive Future workshop.
With support from the EU, ECT (Enabling City Transformation), and the Rogaland Regional Innovation Fund, The City of Stavanger is mapping the potential for a CO2 value chain in Rogaland.
"We want to map the possibilities and remove bottlenecks through broad regional cooperation. We are trying to set the course for how the region can move from ambition to concrete action in CO2 management," says Anna Kraaijeveld Enerstvedt, project manager for ECT.
The participant list for the workshop spans a wide range of sectors crucial to the region's development, including Lyse, Forus Energigjenvinning, Horisont Energi, NorSea Group, Asco World, Maritime CleanTech, NORCE, DOGA, Haugaland Vekst, Fremje Consulting, Energy Transition Norway, Acus, Forus Næringspark, Haugaland Næringspark, Stavanger Municipality, and Rogaland County Council.
How do you actually store CO2?
Carbon capture and storage involve capturing CO2 from industrial emissions, transporting it, and pumping it - for example - beneath the seabed for permanent storage.
In Rogaland, a complete value chain is currently missing because infrastructure development is extremely costly, and it is presently cheaper for companies to pay emission taxes than to invest in capture plants.
Simultaneously, the lack of pipelines and shipping terminals creates a "chicken or the egg" problem, where no one ventures to invest until the entire chain from emission to storage is in place.
What is a Future workshop?
The process is led by Fremtenkt, a firm specializing in navigating complex future scenarios. The method follows a set route:
1. The critique phase: Putting all current challenges and frustrations on the table.
2. The utopia phase: Setting aside money and regulations to find the ideal solution.
3. The realization phase: Bringing the best ideas back down to earth for practical implementation.
"The goal today is to challenge everyone present to look beyond the possibilities they already know, in order to create regional value chains for carbon capture and storage in Rogaland. Not in 10, 15, or 20 years, but starting today," says Sveinung Sundfør Sivertsen at Fremtenkt.
The critique phase: To the barriers!
The workshop opened with a direct review of current barriers. Participants described a fragmented reality characterized by high costs, deficient logistics, and a political "waiting game." Without clear economic incentives or a predictable framework for CO2 taxes, the situation is perceived as chaotic.
Criticism was particularly directed at the tendency in Norway to think too big, overlooking the need for regional, scalable solutions. There is significant frustration that it is currently cheaper to look to Denmark for storage than to develop local value chains.
Facilitator Sveinung Sundfør Sivertsen reminds the assembly that these frustrations are the raw material for the work ahead:
“These are stories about the situation as it stands today. Throughout the day, we will rewrite these narratives into concrete plans for action.”
What can we fix ourselves?
Furthermore, the participants are asked to categorize the challenges: Which problems can be solved by the actors in the room, and which lie with external decision-makers?
One participant expresses surprise at how many of the challenges can be resolved locally, here and now. At the same time, many of the notes end up in the category requiring outside assistance, demonstrating that success depends on a strong synergy between regional companies and national politicians.
In the final part of the critique phase, attention shifts toward the external factors that can actually be influenced. A key realization is the need to shift the mindset from viewing CO2 purely as an expense - to seeing it as a business model, as has been done in the US for years.
There are calls for a "reverse innovation process," learning from large-scale projects like Northern Lights but translating the technology into a smaller scale suited for regional players.
The discussion reveals a gap between current solutions and the need for smart, local logistics systems. It is emphasized that Norway could profit significantly from storing European volumes, and that we risk being pushed out of the market by countries like Denmark if we do not navigate the EU path and Net Zero requirements quickly enough.
One group concludes that they must form a united front to pressure national authorities. The goal should be to establish a framework for smaller volumes, allowing Rogaland to stop waiting for large-scale solutions and instead create their own.
Utopia!
After a thorough review of the barriers, the workshop shifts character to the utopia phase.
Here, one group envisions a 2050 where Rogaland is the epicenter of a seamless value chain, capturing and storing 300 tonnes of CO2 annually. In another future scenario, Kårstø has been transformed into a giant reception hub, and all regional industry is connected to a network that makes CO2 management as natural as regular waste management.
To understand the path forward, the participants work on a timeline moving backward from the future to the present. While the 2030s and 2040s mark the completion of hubs and industrial connectivity, the most critical decisions lie in the near future. Between 2027 and 2029, financing and national minimum prices for carbon removal must be established—but the starting gun fires in 2026.
One group calls for a regional "climate roar," where Rogaland County Council unites the business community under a single banner to demand a national market regulator. The message is crystal clear: the region intends to build this value chain regardless, and that requires the courage to commit to a solution now and optimize along the way.
Back to reality
In the final phase, Sivertsen urged participants not to let good ideas drown in old notions that "everything is too difficult."
Focus shifted to how to practically organize cooperation. The fact that several follow-up agreements were made during the seven-hour session signals a strong will to maintain momentum.
As part of the Mission Cities initiative, participants were introduced to the "Transition Team" concept—an engine to ensure that change happens.
"The goal is for the cooperation started at Innoasis today to develop into a binding alliance that takes the first concrete steps toward a regional CO2 value chain right now," concludes Anne Woie, Head of Business Development at Stavanger Municipality.
