Mona Mølnvik, Research Director at SINTEF, received the international Green Award for her work in carbon capture and storage (CCS). The award was presented at the Greenhouse Gas Technology Conference in Canada, which is one of the largest conferences on CCS in the world.
“I am proud and humbled to receive this award. It recognises the long history of SINTEF and NTNU in CCS, the commitment from our government, and the efforts of our forward-thinking industry. The people working in this field are highly skilled and deeply dedicated. To me, these individuals are more than just colleagues—they are allies working to make it possible for CCS to capture as much CO₂ as we emit,” said Mølnvik.
Mona Mølnvik is one of the world’s leading researchers in CCS. She currently heads the Norwegian CCS Research Centre (NCCS) and its successor, GigaCCS. The selection committee highlighted Mølnvik’s extensive experience in CCS as a key factor in their decision to award what they have referred to as the Olympic gold medal for CCS.
“Mona Mølnvik has conducted and led excellent CCS research for more than 20 years. This has been done with a holistic view to produce high-quality useful results that help accelerate CCS deployment,” said Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager of IEAGHG.
Growing interest in CCS and new research centre in 2025
“Climate change is being felt globally, and we need CCS as a key tool to mitigate its impact. The increased support for CCS in the United States and Canada serves as a major inspiration for us in Norway and Europe, where we are focused on strengthening our knowledge base, enhancing capacity, and reducing costs and risks,” said Mølnvik after the award ceremony.
GigaCCS is a new research centre for environmentally friendly energy (FME) that aims to enhance Norway’s expertise in CCS while supporting its global implementation on a gigatonne scale. Led by Mona Mølnvik and hosted by SINTEF Energy Research, GigaCCS is funded for eight years (2025–2032) and builds on the collaboration and innovations of its FME predecessor, NCCS, which concludes this year.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights CCS as a critical tool for achieving climate targets, as it can decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors and enable negative emissions. To realise its full potential, CCS implementation must be scaled up to store gigatonnes of CO₂ annually.
