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Optimising CO 2 transport and injection is a challenging issue in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), not only because of the complexity of the problem, but also because of timing effects when introducing new sources and/or sinks into the CO 2 transport infrastructure. In particular, the effects of storage capacity, injection site location and reservoir properties can propagate to capture and transport costs, affecting the design of the CO 2 pipelines. For example, if an injection site does not have enough capacity to store the total amount of CO 2 from a capture project, decision makers would need to consider whether to use a larger capacity site, or use the site with small capacity and later switch to a larger capacity site or use both sites. This paper considers the effects of storage capacity, injectivity and distance to source of two sinks on optimal CO 2 transport infrastructure design and a static supply of CO 2 . Optimal pipeline configurations and sink selection were determined under different combinations of CO 2 flow rate, pipeline length and storage site properties. In one scenario, two sinks both have infinite capacity but different injectivities and distances to the emission source. In the other scenario, one sink is relatively small but has a better injectivity or proximity to the emission source. A decision tree approach was developed to provide a quick method for high-level sink selection and pipeline routing for the two scenarios based on the key project parameters including sink capacity, injectivities, pipeline distances and well cost. The scenarios where the decision trees may be useful for simplifying the design of large-scale CO 2 pipeline networks have also been analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] European CCS funds struggling to secure demonstration projects to move forward. [•] Not one CCS project was awarded under NER300 first round. [•] We analyse factors constraining EC funding approaches to support CCS in Europe. [•] National public funds austerity and lack of comprehensive policy critical factors. [•] For NER300, tight rules combined with major complexity of CCS projects proved fatal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]