IEA Demands Urgent Carbon Capture Action

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called for urgent action on the implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in the wake of the collapse of the European Union's first round of funding for large scale CCS demonstration projects.

The energy watchdog stated that despite the attention given to the growth of renewable energy, fossil fuels still generate over 80% of the energy consumed worldwide. It said the only way this can continue without adding more CO2 to the atmosphere is to implement CCS technology. The resulting CO2 emissions from current fossil-fuel usage is too high to restrict the average global temperature rising by just 2 degrees by 2050.

It stated that "without significant deployment of CCS", more than two-thirds of current proven fossil-fuel reserves cannot be commercialised in a 2-degree world before 2050.

"For the IEA, carbon capture and storage is not a substitute, but a necessary addition to other low-carbon energy technologies and energy efficiency improvements," explained Juho Lipponen, head of the IEA Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Unit, speaking at the 11th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies in Kyoto, Japan. "Fossil-fuel CCS is particularly important in a world that currently shows absolutely no sign of scaling down its fossil fuel consumption."

In December, European efforts to lead the world in the development of CCS technology suffered a major blow when the last candidate for a share of a €1.5 billion ($1.85 billion) development fund dropped out of the race. The withdrawal of steel giant ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg) from a project to capture and store carbon at the Florange steel mill in north-east France meant that the European Commission's (E.C.'s) New Entrants Reserve 300 (NER300) funding programme had no viable applicants left to share the first round of the €1.5 billion fund. For additional information, see December 14, 2012, article - Europe's Carbon Capture Competition Fails.

Last month, the E.C. awarded over €1.2 billion in funding to 23 renewable energy demonstration projects under the first call for proposals for the NER300 funding programme, but none of them were CCS projects.

"Unfortunately, no carbon capture and storage (CCS) project could be awarded funding under today's Decision," the E.U. stated. "The €275 million envisaged for CCS projects in the first call remains available to fund projects under the second phase of the NER300 programme. The Commission will proceed swiftly with the implementation of the second call for proposals, covering unused funds from the first call as well as the revenues of the remaining 100 million allowances in the new entrants' reserve."

Three potential projects located in the U.K. were also forced to withdraw from the competition after the failure of the U.K. government to commit to matching any potential NER300 funding.

Last November the U.K. government revealed its own shortlist of large-scale CCS projects competing for a share its €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) fund. For additional information, see November 2, 2012, article - U.K. Reveals 'Final Four' Carbon Capture Projects.

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