Pace needs to accelerate on CCS, IEA says

Greenwise Staff

15th June 2010

Governments that have committed to the commercialisation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) must step up the pace of the deployment of the technology, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

A report co-authored by the IEA and published yesterday, said significant progress had been made in the two years since G8 leaders committed to the broad deployment of CCS by 2020, with over $26 billion (£17.6 billion) already committed to large-scale CCS demonstration projects. However, it concluded there was a risk that goal could be missed if efforts to launch 20 demonstration projects within the next decade did not step up.

CCS involves capturing the carbon dioxide emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, transporting it and storing it in a secure geological facility. The technology is not proven to work on a commercial scale yet, but analysis has shown that it could play an important part in a mix of energy technologies and measures to reduce global emissions and help avoid the most serious consequences of climate change.

In Britain, the new Coalition Government has honoured a commitment by the previous Labour administration to commit to four CCS demonstration projects, and yesterday’s joint report by the IEA, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) and the Global CCS Institute, said the UK, along with countries such as the US, Canada and Australia, was making good progress in developing the technology.

Greater cooperation

But the report’s authors called for greater cooperation between governments and industry to step up deployment globally.

"By any measure, governments and stakeholders have made impressive strides toward promoting CCS technologies and encouraging the collaboration and sharing of information necessary to foster the broad, global advancement of CCS. As this report indicates, we are moving steadily from R&D to commercialisation of effective, deployable CCS technologies," said Victor Der, chairman of the CSLF Policy Group.

But IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said continued political leadership was essential at both national and international levels to achieve 2020 goals. "Reaching the G8 goal of broad deployment of CCS by 2020 is achievable, but will be challenging," he noted.

By 2020, G8 countries plan to facilitate the launch of between 19 and 43 CCS demonstration projects.

Meanwhile, an IEA CCS Technology Roadmap published in 2009, says around 100 CCS projects will be required globally by 2020, roughly half of them in developing countries, to prevent global average temperatures reaching above 2 degrees C.

Yesterday’s report will be presented to G8 leaders at their June Summit in Muskoka, Canada.