IEA Criticises Slow Carbon Capture & Storage Rollout

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The International Energy Agency IEA) has warned that the implementation of carbon and capture and storage (CCS) technology is lagging far behind where it needs to be.

Speaking at the Clean Energy Summit in London, the IEA's Deputy Executive Director Ambassador, Richard Jones, claimed that most clean energy technologies are not being deployed quickly enough. Backed up by its Tracking Clean Energy Progress report, the IEA highlighted that up to 40 fossil fuel-fired power stations fitted with commercial-scale CCS technology need to be in place by 2020 but at the moment that figure stands at zero.

"We have a responsibility and a golden opportunity to act," claimed Jones. "Energy-related CO2 emissions are at historic highs; under current policies, we estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050. This would likely send global temperatures at least 6°C higher. Such an outcome would confront future generations with significant economic, environmental and energy security hardships.

Highlighting the CCS issue to the media, Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA, explained: "The world's energy system is being pushed to breaking point, and our addiction to fossil fuels grows stronger each year. Many clean energy technologies are available, but they are not being deployed quickly enough to avert potentially disastrous consequences. "Technologies with great potential for energy and emissions savings are making much less progress. Carbon capture and storage is not seeing the rate of investment needed to develop full-scale demonstration projects. In addition, half of new electricity demand has been met by coal; and to make things more challenging, 50% of those new coal-fired power plants are still being built with inefficient technology. All these trends are going in the wrong direction."

The IEA has proposed a three-pronged strategy:

- level the playing field for clean energy technologies. This means ensuring that energy prices reflect the "true cost" of energy -- accounting for the positive and negative impacts of energy production and consumption.

- Unlock the potential of energy efficiency, the "hidden fuel" of the future. Making sure that energy is not wasted and that it is used in the best possible way is the most cost-effective action and must be the first step of any policy aimed at building a sustainable energy mix.

- Accelerate energy innovation and public support for research, development and demonstration. This will help lay the groundwork for private sector innovation, and speed technologies to market.

The U.K. is among some leading European countries championing CCS technology. Earlier this month, after several delays, the U.K. government launched its £1 billion ($1.58 billion) funding competition to drive the development of commercial-scale CCS projects in the coal-fired and gas-fired power sectors. For additional information, see April 11, 2012, article - New U.K. Carbon Capture and Storage Competition Under Way.

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