Updating the environmental regulation of liquified CO2 storage in ports to support carbon capture and storage plans in the UK
Updating the environmental regulation of liquified CO2 storage in ports to support carbon capture and storage plans in the UK
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is central to the UK's Net-Zero Strategy, with shipping and ports playing a key role in enabling flexible CO2 transport and storage (T&S) where pipelines infrastructure is not available. However, the regulation of the temporary storage of liquified CO2 (LCO2) in UK ports remains underexplored, particularly under the environmental permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR).
In this paper, we critically assess the EPR's suitability for regulating temporary LCO2 storage in ports in support of CCS. We examine the scope and limitations of the EPR's current CCS regime and explore whether other provisions can address the regulatory gaps that arise when storage occurs away from capture sites.
We identify key barriers that risk delaying the environmentally safe deployment of port-based LCO2 storage. Our findings show that, while the EPR provides a solid foundation for environmental protection, it lacks the clarity and flexibility needed to address the regulatory complexities of shipping-based CCS and non-pipeline transport (NPT).
We propose targeted regulatory reforms to improve legal certainty, support infrastructure rollout, and align environmental safeguards with net-zero goals. Our analysis informs ongoing UK decarbonisation policy and highlights regulatory issues likely to emerge internationally as CO2 shipping scales up.
Environmental permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, UK environmental law, carbon capture and storage, nonpipeline transport (NPT), port infrastructure regulation, temporary CO2 storage in ports
Dbouk, Wassim
5027fe6d-3bbb-4ef0-9dbc-9e9650e73493
Teagle, Damon
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
Armstrong, Lindsay-Marie
db493663-2457-4f84-9646-15538c653998
Hjalmarsson, Johanna
73a98539-9a14-4e63-bb53-5a7c365ad6e4
Ntovas, Alexandros X.M.
c770a980-34f6-4f24-8e08-eb3dae2e2bea
Turnock, Stephen
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
23 March 2026
Dbouk, Wassim
5027fe6d-3bbb-4ef0-9dbc-9e9650e73493
Teagle, Damon
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
Armstrong, Lindsay-Marie
db493663-2457-4f84-9646-15538c653998
Hjalmarsson, Johanna
73a98539-9a14-4e63-bb53-5a7c365ad6e4
Ntovas, Alexandros X.M.
c770a980-34f6-4f24-8e08-eb3dae2e2bea
Turnock, Stephen
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
Dbouk, Wassim, Teagle, Damon, Armstrong, Lindsay-Marie, Hjalmarsson, Johanna, Ntovas, Alexandros X.M. and Turnock, Stephen
(2026)
Updating the environmental regulation of liquified CO2 storage in ports to support carbon capture and storage plans in the UK.
Environmental Law Review.
(doi:10.1177/14614529261432963).
Abstract
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is central to the UK's Net-Zero Strategy, with shipping and ports playing a key role in enabling flexible CO2 transport and storage (T&S) where pipelines infrastructure is not available. However, the regulation of the temporary storage of liquified CO2 (LCO2) in UK ports remains underexplored, particularly under the environmental permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR).
In this paper, we critically assess the EPR's suitability for regulating temporary LCO2 storage in ports in support of CCS. We examine the scope and limitations of the EPR's current CCS regime and explore whether other provisions can address the regulatory gaps that arise when storage occurs away from capture sites.
We identify key barriers that risk delaying the environmentally safe deployment of port-based LCO2 storage. Our findings show that, while the EPR provides a solid foundation for environmental protection, it lacks the clarity and flexibility needed to address the regulatory complexities of shipping-based CCS and non-pipeline transport (NPT).
We propose targeted regulatory reforms to improve legal certainty, support infrastructure rollout, and align environmental safeguards with net-zero goals. Our analysis informs ongoing UK decarbonisation policy and highlights regulatory issues likely to emerge internationally as CO2 shipping scales up.
Text
dbouk-et-al-2026-updating-the-environmental-regulation-of-liquified-co2-storage-in-ports-to-support-carbon-capture-and
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 2026
Published date: 23 March 2026
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Keywords:
Environmental permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, UK environmental law, carbon capture and storage, nonpipeline transport (NPT), port infrastructure regulation, temporary CO2 storage in ports
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 511291
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511291
ISSN: 1461-4529
PURE UUID: 90784849-08d4-423e-b179-04b21fbba9db
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 11 May 2026 16:46
Last modified: 12 May 2026 02:03
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
