The environment ministry has cancelled all public information meetings about plans to store excess CO2 in empty gas chambers under the earth’s surface, Trouw reports on Wednesday.

The new coalition agreement states that the cabinet is not opposed to underground storage of CO2 if ‘there are tough safety standards and local support’.
The meetings had been called in an effort to assuage widespread opposition to plans to experiment with storing the greenhouse gas deep under the town of Barendrecht near Rotterdam.
Barendrecht council argues the risks to locals are unclear and house prices may collapse. The potential storage site lies under a residential area of 7,600 homes.
The outgoing government sees underground storage as a good way of coping with excess CO2 and has set aside millions of euros to fund experiments. The Barendrecht area has been earmarked for storing CO2 from Shell’s Pernis refinery. Other potential sites are also under investigation.