Search

Abstract: The IEA 2007 World Energy Outlook forecasts that fossil fuels will continue to dominate the energy mix until 2030, including large economies such as the EU, Japan, US and China. A growing concern among many countries is the design o f mechanism s that will finance clean coal technologies and in particular carbon capture and storage projects. To illustrate, it is estimated that the United States will require 170 GW of new coal -fired capacity prior to 2030 with 90% of that being post 2015. Therefore substantial government and private investment into carbon capture and storage (CCS ) projects will be required and m echanisms designed to facilitate that investment. Many organizations are examining this issue including the IEA Clean Coal Centre, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme, Clean Coal Power Initiative and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF). In 2007 and 2008 two expert meetings on financing post-demonstration CCS projects were organised in London and New York by the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme and the IEA Clean Coal Centre, with the support of the World Coal Institute and sponsorship from Chevr on and Rio Tinto. This paper reports back the results of those meetings in regard to identifying the key drivers for financing post-demonstration CCS projects in Europe and North America. This is of particular interest with the restructuring of the USA Fut ureGen Programme as well as the proposed inclusion of CCS within the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) in the future. Different options for financing such projects are explored and compared with a focus on how they could assist in the realisation of commercial CCS projects. In addition, this paper examines the response by the insurance, banking and other financial sectors to the potential investment opportunities CCS projects could provide in dealing with issues such as liability and project investment. Lastly, the paper analyses the knowledge and awareness of CCS technology within the financial community in general. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The United States and China are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world and their projected continued growth and reliance on fossil fuels–especially coal–make them strong candidates for the large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) systems in a greenhouse gas constrained world. Previous work has revealed that both nations have over 1600 large electric utility and other industrial point CO2 sources as well as very large CO2 storage resources on the order of 2000 billion metric tons (Gt) of onshore storage capacity. In each case, the vast majority of this capacity is found in deep saline formations. In both the USA and China, candidate storage reservoirs are likely to be widely accessible with over 80% of these large industrial CO2 sources having a CO2 storage option within just 80 km. This suggests a strong potential for CCS to help bring about meaningful, sustained CO2 emissions reductions for these large, vibrant economies. However, while the USA and China possess many similarities with regards to the potential value that CCS might provide, including the range of costs at which CCS may be available to most large CO2 sources in each nation, there are a number of more subtle differences that may help us to understand the ways in which CCS deployment may differ as the the two nations work together–and in step with the rest of the world–to most efficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper details the first ever analysis of CCS deployment costs in these two countries based on methodologically comparable CO2 source and sink inventories, economic analysis, geospatial source-sink matching and cost curve modeling. This type of analysis provides valuable insight into the degree to which early and sustained opportunities for climate change mitigation via commercial-scale CCS are available to the two countries, and could facilitate greater collaboration in areas where those opportunities overlap. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As the private sector and government begin to spend billions of dollars to research and deploy carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, the question of legal liability for managing short-term and long-term environmental, health and safety risks must be addressed. We examine potential CCS liability within a U.S. context and survey the existing environmental and tort law liability regimes that may affect CCS. We conclude that while existing liability regimes are insufficient on their own to govern the CCS industry, they could provide important risk management tools and serve as safeguards to private parties and governments in the event of harm. We also propose a model for long term stewardship, blending including bonding, insurance, and pooled federal funding into commercial CCS project management to better provide financial security to investors without destroying existing liability protections for those who may suffer harm from CCS. This proposal offers a starting point to develop a model to integrate liability for the nascent CCS industry. A longer version of this paper can be found in the Emory Law Review, Fall 2008. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]