Dr. Brendan Murphy:

We have done a lot work on carbon capture and storage in the last couple of years. We are looking at two different models. The first would involve using the Kinsale field, which will soon be depleted. We have done a lot of work to examine both onshore and offshore infrastructure to see what parts we should keep. We now have a very good sense of exactly what parts of that infrastructure we want to keep. We also have a lot of data about the field itself. We have done a lot of work to understand the field's compatibility with the storage of CO2. The challenge will concern the wells that have been drilled into the field.

We have also done a lot of work with the European Union. Several grant funds for CCS work are available in Europe. In particular, I refer to the emissions trading system, ETS, innovation fund, which is worth €11 billion. Its administrators are planning to offer up to 60% funding for CCS projects in Europe. We have done a lot of work with the EU and we are very much on its radar at this point.

That is the position with the Kinsale field. The other model we are looking at is the export model. As Mr. O'Sullivan mentioned, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor, a Norwegian company. Equinor is developing a bespoke field north of Norway where it will store up to 5 million tonnes of CO2 per annum. We have signed a memorandum of understanding with that firm to explore the potential for us to ship CO2 to the field off the coast of Norway. We have more work to do in that regard.

Hydrogen is still in the early stages although it is gaining huge momentum and is being spoken about much more. The UK's Committee on Climate Change has talked a lot about the need for hydrogen as part of an overall zero-carbon model. In the past few weeks the German Chancellor has said that a national hydrogen strategy should be in place by the end of 2019, while the Austrian Chancellor has said that hydrogen is the fuel of the future. There is a lot of momentum behind it, but it is still at a relatively early stage.