Review of the public participation practices for CCS and non-CCS projects in Europe

The European project NearCO2 is investigating European public perceptions of carbon capture and storage (CCS) via case studies (both CCS and analogous energy infrastructure), surveys, and focus groups. The overall aim of the project is to investigate and develop communication strategies that are designed to convey the advantages and risks of CCS to stakeholders and to the public, which strategies may also be used to involve these parties in local decision-making on CCS projects. This report describes the results of the first phase of investigation, which focuses on lessons learned from CCS and analogous developments in recent years. Eight case studies are reviewed to help determine the nature of the communications and consultation strategies used by project developers as part of the energy project approval processes. The chosen range of case studies represents a number of different regulatory environments throughout the European Union and a number of different technologies. The consideration of a number of different contextual factors as part of a multi-case study approach has helped to identify factors involved in the relationship between communications and project outcomes, as a means of informing consultation exercises for future CCS projects.