Carbon Capture, Transport and Storage

The objective of the European Industrial Initiative (EII) on Carbon Capture, Transport and Storage (CCS) is to contribute to the development of the technology that will enable the application of CCS in all carbon intensive industrial sectors and to ensure its competitive cost for deployment by 2020-2025. The operational objectives of this EII include the final Investment decisions for up to 12 CCS demonstration projects should be taken by 2015, as well as a programme of knowledge-sharing between projects (https://www.ccsnetwork.eu).

All the main technology routes for carbon capture, post combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel, are to have pilot projects for demonstration. These pilot projects should improve the capture processes by reducing the cost of technology and the loss of efficiency. They should also contribute to improve the integration of capture technologies into industrial installations, and to increase the purity of the CO2 stream as required to manage risks in the transport and storage infrastructures.

The transport concepts should be further developed to increase operational reliability and safety, both through pipeline and ship. The pilot projects should also contribute to launch the core of a trans-European CO2 network.

Storage monitoring technologies and reporting procedures shall be validated and a consistent methodology for classification of storage reserves/capacity should be established. Finally, this industrial initiative should also evaluate the storage potential within the territory of the European Union, namely in deep saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields and “unmineable” coal layers. These sites and CO2 emission sources will be mapped out to enable the identification of potential pipeline trajectories connecting sources and sinks.

The operating costs of CCS will greatly depend on the price of coal and of Emission Unit Allowances under the European Emissions Trade Scheme. As an ending note, let us refer that one of the outcomes of the Durban conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was the inclusion of projects for carbon dioxide capture and storage in geological formations as eligible Clean Development Mechanism activities – a program which provides financial support for developing countries, under the Kyoto Protocol for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sources:

- CCS EII Implementation Plan 2010-2012, Zero Emissions Platform

- UNFCCC

Where does the European Union stand on GHG emission reductions?

Years ago, the Member States of the European Union committed themselves to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 20%, increasing the share of renewable energy to 20%, and increase the energy efficiency in 20% by 2020. According to the “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050” (EU Commission, 2011), the EU is currently on track to meet the first two targets, although additional efforts are needed to achieve the energy efficiency target.

The European Union has been a champion pushing for more ambitious targets for the period after the Kyoto Protocol expires. In the UNFCCC conference in Durban, the EU voluntarily proposed to move from a 20% to a 30% reduction by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, provided that the other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emission reductions and developing countries contribute adequately according to their responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Previously, during contacts with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Commission had already reaffirmed its intention to reduce EU's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 80-95% by 2050 compared to 1990.

However, the EU represents little more than 10% of global emissions... it will not be able to tackle climate change on its own. Additionally, while setting an example, the EU is at the same time safeguarding its position. Committing alone would bring hardships to the Member States in the future, due to disloyal market competition and even from the displacement of large emitting companies to other regions of the Globe with less stringent climate protection frameworks.

I eagerly await for the next “episodes” of the negotiation of the emission reductions between Countries for the after-Kioto Protocol (the period beyond 2012), under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Protection (UNFCCC). 

 Sources:
- “A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050”, European Commission, 2011;
- UNFCCC, http://unfccc.int/.

Wishes of lower carbon-intensity for 2012

The Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change share the ultimate objective to stabilize the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) at a level that will prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

Scientists have pin-pointed a 2 degrees Celsius rise in global average temperature from pre-industrial levels as the highest rise at which Humanity has a 50% chance of avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

Energy consumption is on the rise, despite the 2008 financial crisis and the economic crisis that followed. With the continuing growth of the population in developing countries such as China, already the world's largest energy consumer, and the growth of the global GDP, stabilizing the atmospheric concentrations of GHGs requires an alternative development paradigm with significantly lower Carbon-intensity.

As the oil reserves diminish, forcing the exploration of more difficult to access reserves and increasing the production costs, one thing is certain: the days of cheap oil and cheap energy are coming to an end. The lower Carbon-intensity economy will develop in the coming decades, it is inevitable. The question is whether it will deliver in time to avoid disastrous socio-economic and environmental effects of climate change.

I must say I am reasonably optimistic. Countries and corporations worldwide have two alternatives in face of the inevitable shift towards a lower Carbon-intensity economy. They can plan ahead and seize this challenge as an opportunity to become more efficient in energy production and energy consumption, thus increasing their competitiveness, or they can refuse to see ahead and pay the consequences for lagging behind a few decades from now.

These two currents are already emerging. As the USA and Canada walk away from the legally binding compromise to lower GHGs emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, China is stepping in for the second commitment period negotiations. Today, a Chinese State-owned company (China Three Gorges Corporation) signed an agreement to become the largest stakeholder of the Portuguese energy-utility EDP. EDP's subsidiary “EDP renewables” is a world leader in renewable energy, being the third largest wind energy operator in the world.

I for one am very curious to know what the future will bring us. For this coming year, my whish is that government and corporate leaders worldwide will have the vision and wisdom to embrace the efforts towards an economy of lower carbon-intensity. 

Happy New Year everyone!

Sources:
- UNFCCC (http://unfccc.int/);
- A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050, European Commission, 2011;
- RTP1.