(EnergyAsia, May 15 2012, Tuesday) — Global financing for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, a tool for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, was kept unchanged at US$23.5 billion in 2011, said US-based Worldwatch Institute.

According to a new report by the Washington DC-based environmental and resources study group, there are 75 large-scale, fully integrated carbon capture and storage projects in 17 countries at various stages of development with a total capacity to store nearly 35 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

But only eight are operational, a figure that has not changed since 2009, although Worldwatch Institute did not explain why in its statement announcing the release of the report.

According to the International Energy Agency, the world will have to invest an additional US$2.5 to US$3 trillion in CCS between 2010 and 2050 if it is to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.

The world will have to invest an average US$5 to US$6.5 billion a year through 2020 to develop CCS technology.

The US is the leading funder of large-scale CCS projects, followed by the European Union and Canada, said Worldwatch Institute.

CCS technology attempts to capture greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from human activities such as industrial production and power generation for permanent storage in geologic reservoirs so that they do not enter the atmosphere.

The report, part of Worldwatch’s Vital Signs Online series analysing key global trends, discusses a variety of new CCS projects and facilities being implemented around the world, including the Century Plant in the US, which began operating in 2010.
  
“Although CCS technology has the potential to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, particularly when used in greenhouse gas-intensive coal plants, developing the CCS sector to the point that it can make a serious contribution to emissions reduction will require large-scale investment,” said report author and Worldwatch Sustainable Energy Fellow, Matthew Lucky.

“Capacity will have to be increased several times over before CCS can begin to make a dent in global emissions.”

He estimates that the storage capacity of all active and planned large-scale CCS projects is equivalent to only about 0.5% of the emissions from energy production in 2010

The prospects for future development and application of CCS technology will be influenced by a variety of factors, according to the report.

In March this year, the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. As a result, US power producers would soon be unable to build traditional coal plants without carbon-control capabilities including CCS. The technology will likely become increasingly important as power producers adjust to the new regulations.

On the international stage, Mr Lucky reported that an international regulatory framework for CCS is developing slowly, and the technology has been factored into international climate negotiations.

But its classification as a clean development mechanism (CDM), a measure created through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that allows industrialised countries to gain credit for emissions reductions they achieve through funding development projects in developing countries, has raised objections from those who argue that it risks prolonging the use of carbon-intensive industries.

Worldwatch President Robert Engelman said:

“CCS technology is worth exploring as one of a large array of potential strategies for slowing the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But as this report demonstrates, right now there’s little progress in realising this potential.

“A technology capable of permanently sequestering large amounts of carbon will be expensive, and so far the world’s markets and governments haven’t assigned much value to carbon or to the prevention of human-caused climate change.

“Ultimately, that will be needed for real progress in CCS development and implementation.”