Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/19/2015
The deployment of carbon capture and storage at a large scale is imperative in meeting global climate goals, according to a report released this week by the International Energy Agency. The report addresses what will have to be done to limit global temperature rise to 2 °C. To reach this goal, while still meeting global energy needs, carbon capture and storage will need to be adopted at a large scale, the report finds. “Any strategy to realise the long-term 2 °C target will require a level of decarbonisation of the energy sector that cannot be achieved even with the most efficient coal power plants, as they are constituted today. … Investors in new fossil-fuel power plants, especially coal-fired power plants, need to ensure not only the high efficiency of the plants, but also that they are, where possible, suitable for later modification to incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS),” the report says.
The deployment of CCS will be most significant in the United States and China due in part to the abundance of cheap coal and large coal fleets in those countries, the report says. However, most new coal plants are not yet being built with CCS, increasing the need for investment in retrofits. “The retrofit of existing plants with CCS can provide plants with a new lease on life as low-carbon generators, which could be particularly important in countries like China that already have a large fleet of coal- and gas-fired power plants and where coal prices are anticipated to remain relatively low,” the report says.
In the 2 °C scenario presented in the report, the United States and China account for roughly 80 percent of power sector CCS installations in 2040. To meet this level of deployment, the report suggests that CCS projects have access to climate funds.
Further research and development will need to be done to develop new CCS technologies and improve upon known technologies. “In this area, the emergence of pilot facilities that provide open access to developers to test and evaluate CO2 capture technologies is encouraging, such as those in Canada, Norway, United Kingdom and United States,” the report says.
The report also suggests that policies to encourage the early exploration and development of CO2 storage capacity be established. “All investment decisions for CCS depend on confidence that the CO2 can be safely stored. While large-scale projects and RD&D will generate globally transferrable knowledge and safeguards, the development of CO2 storage resources needs to be undertaken regionally and well in advance of deployment,” the report says.
