Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
2/28/2014
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was pressed on the viability of carbon capture and storage technology at the winter meeting of the National Resources Committee of the National Governors Association earlier this week. In response to a question from Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead about the economic and technical viability of CCS, Moniz emphasized that the CCS community needs to continue to push for cost reductions. “I believe that we are just in the early stages, especially on technologies like CCUS, which certainly are technically available,” Moniz said. “We know how to do it, there’s no question about that. It’s as with everything else: We want to keep working on getting the costs down. Of course, we believe very strongly that we must be moving to a low-carbon future, and our job at DOE, certainly in the all-of-the-above strategy, is to make the investments that will [make] all of the fuels competitive in that low-carbon marketplace.”
Mead, though, appeared skeptical, responding: “With respect to coal and other energy sources, I have greater faith in scientists than I do politicians, frankly, and I think with innovation that technology can be there, but in order for it to be there, those industries have to be profitable.”
Moniz Defends Loan Program
In his comments to the governors, Moniz also defended the Department of Energy’s loan program, saying that even though some projects that received funds under the program have not gone as planned, only 10 percent of a $10 billion loan loss reserve program has been used to make up for those projects that have gone awry. “We are committed to the loan program,” Moniz said. “We all know the loan program has not always been viewed favorably. But I want to make it very clear: It’s always easy to find one project or two projects that did not succeed as planned. But this was always viewed as a portfolio exercise.”
The DOE has issued an $8 billion fossil solicitation for technologies that lower emissions under the loan program. Moniz said the authority available could provide opportunities for states to think about commercial-scale projects that will push technology forward in a clean energy future, noting that Ceres, a clean energy investment group, recently estimated that about $35 trillion in investments will be needed to achieve the mid-century vision for carbon reductions. “That’s a lot of money; that’s a lot of technology; that’s a lot of infrastructure,” Moniz said. “We want to be in the United States at the head of that train, not trying to catch up. Those markets are forming, and that is why I feel that pushing on this example, the loan plan, in addition to our other programs … pushing on that is essential if we’re going to have the timeliness to meet the climate challenge and to meet the technology business opportunity that is being presented with this transformation.”
