From rejection to reliance on carbon capture and storage in Denmark: a case of mitigation deterrence?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has in recent years gained increasing attention as a climate solution. In Denmark, geological CO2-storage was earlier rejected, but in 2020 CCS was incorporated into national climate policy as key to reach the country’s 2030 target. In this article we investigate the incorporation of CCS into Danish climate policy as a case of mitigation deterrence. Through the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries, we analyse the relation between technology, risk and identity, illustrating how CCS was first resisted and rejected, but then reemerged and became embedded in national policy, extending into subnational climate plans. We posit that the incorporation of CCS in Danish climate policy likely constitutes a case of mitigation deterrence in the forms of substitution and failure and mitigation foregone. We argue that the reliance on future technologies to reach climate targets was enabled by a national imaginary of being a green frontrunner.