LONDON – With Europe reeling from heat waves and wildfires, the EU is backing projects to capture industrial emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a key pillar in its fight against climate change. But what if these multi-billion-euro schemes make the problem worse?

This investigation uncovers evidence that the fossil fuel industry plans to use some of the captured CO2 to revive ageing oilfields in the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea – liberating billions of barrels of previously unrecoverable crude oil, and delaying the shift to clean energy.

While carbon capture and storage (CCS) has long been controversial, risks associated with the EU’s CCS plans have barely been discussed. DeSmog aims to break this silence with a series of investigations informing the public and policy-makers of the dangers.

Photo: Michael Buchsbaum

The investigation has been featured in this video:

Supported
€74,179 allocated on 28/08/2023
ID:
ENV1/2023/286
Grant:
Environmental Journalism

Themes

Publication

ONLINE

IMPACT

COUNTRIES

  • The EU
  • The UK
  • Norway

Team members

Media

Mentors

Related working grants

Need resources for your own investigative story?

Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.

Apply

Support independent cross-border investigative journalism

We rely on your support to continue the work that we do. Make a gift of any amount today.

Donate