Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
8/23/13
PITTSBURGH—The phased approach to the development of carbon capture and storage technology the United States has taken over the last decade seems to have proven more effective at driving R&D breakthroughs and boosting public acceptance than the strategy of its European counterparts, a top European voice on CCS said here this week. In a keynote address at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Carbon Storage R&D meeting, John Gale, general manager of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, said the U.S. game plan for project development, which he described as a “bottom-up approach,” has produced more fruit than the European “top-down” approach, in which he said politicians tried to drive a commercial industry with broad political edicts but without taking the proper interim steps along the way. “The Europeans took a top-down approach of setting a high-level policy goal of 20 demonstration projects by 2020, but they didn’t do much of the underpinning R&D. Whereas the U.S. took a bit of the alternative approach, which saw the phased buildup of projects and bringing people on board,” Gale said. “You bring the learnings from smaller projects and use them in the demonstration project. That ensures that you have a scientific basis to explain to the politicians that the process is safe and secure, that you’re not taking a risk with investments.”
During his remarks, Gale repeatedly highlighted what he said was the importance of public acceptance and the “key role” smaller-scale pilot projects have played in moving CCS forward. “In my mind, pilots are key to the global implementation of CCS at the moment. They’re building our knowledge base and they’re key to building public confidence in our technology to get us to larger-scale implementation,” he said. Gale cited a 2011 incident involving the Weyburn-Midale CO2 monitoring and storage project in Saskatchewan, in which a local couple alleged that CO2 injected at the site had been leaking into their soil. He said that more than 10 years of research data from Weyburn and other soil tests were able to negate the couple’s argument.
Gale said that more pilot projects similar to Weyburn could have benefitted acceptance of CCS in Europe, where public opposition in countries like Germany and Netherlands has killed projects and led to a ban of onshore CO2 storage operations in the case of the latter. “Europe, in a sense, missed the chance to develop pilots early on, and that would have helped underpin the development of the demonstration projects and boost people’s knowledge and confidence in CCS,” he said.
European Union leaders requested public comment earlier this year on what the 28 country bloc could do to effectively hit the ‘reset’ button on CCS in Europe. A white paper released in March acknowledged that Europe had failed to reach its goals related to the technology’s development and asked for public input on potential incentive policies like CCS portfolio standards and performance standards. “CCS is now at a crossroads,” the paper stated. “Despite much effort and significant EU support, CCS commercial scale demonstration projects in the EU are delayed and available funding is not sufficient.”
