CCS IN THE EU

While U.S. political leaders continue to refer to “clean” coal, also known as carbon-capture-and-sequestration (CCS), as the redemption of coal-burning power plants and the ultimate solution to U.S. electricity generation at commercial scale in the coming era emissions constraints, controversy is beginning to rage in the EU about it.

The European Commission (EC)’s proposals for Phase 3 of the European Union (EU)’s climate change/emissions reduction program include a big boost for CCS. The EC would allow all emissions captured to be discounted from plant caps, making that portion of the plant’s energy consumption much cheaper.

Some in the EU, convinced there is no way to stop burning coal, are deeply committed to the technology as the only way to mitigate emissions. Others are simultaneously realistic and idealistic, pointing out CCS will not be available at commercial scale for 2 decades and it will never make coal clean anyway because coal mining is a devastation to the landscape and transferring coal to power plants is emissions-intensive.

Rebecca Harms, vice-chair, Greens/European Free Alliance of EU Parliament: "Ultimately, CCS still promotes a fossil-fuel economy…We can't be giving public money to oil and coal companies to help them use more oil and coal."

Finally, some question the safety of CO2 sequestration. While the Nobel laureate Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) insists leakage of stored gases is not a danger, others say the IPCC has not considered slow, long-term leakage, especially into the ocean.

Seems like a good idea, doesn't it? (click to enlarge)

But even if it is safe, it may not be the best idea. CCS is an energy intensive process and it is likely, therefore, to cause new problems even as it solves old ones. Sonja Meister, Friends of the Earth Europe: "Ultimately, it is a classic 'end-of-pipe' solution that involves storing the waste rather than eliminating it…"

EU-backed carbon capture and storage technology not without critics
Leigh Phillips, 25 January 2008 (EU Observer)

WHO
European Commission (EC) of the European Union (EU)

WHAT
Is “clean” coal, also known as carbon-capture-and-sequestration (CCS), worthy of the emphasis put on it by the EC proposals for Phase 3 of the EU’s climate change/emissions reduction program?

Capturing the emissions is no small or inexpensive task. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- Phase 3 of the EU climate change/emissions reduction program beings in 2013.
- The EC proposals were announced January 23. (See THE EU PRESENTS: THE FUTURE OF EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS) They must be approved by EU leaders and the EU Parliament. The goal is to get them settled by Spring 2009.
- The EU goal is to cut emissions 50% by 2050.
- The International Energy Agency (IEA) says CCS will not be available at a commercial scale before 2030.

WHERE
- Storage of captured power plant emissions would be in deep geologic formations or deep ocean seabeds.

WHY
- Making electricity generated at CCS-equipped coal plants essentially free of emissions costs drastically reduces the cost of that energy, incentivizing its use. It discourages the development of other kinds of energy and efficiency measures.
- 3 forms of CCS: post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxyfuel combustion. Post-combustion captures emissions after the fuel is burned. It is the true “clean” coal. The other 2 methods alter the way coal is combusted and evolve other chemical processing.

- 2 active large-scale CCS projects: Norway’s Sleipner in the North sea (Statoil); Salah in Algeria (Statoil, BP, Sonatrach)
- CCS can also be used in heavy industries like cement, iron/steel, petrochemicals and oil refineries, another way that the emissions reduction mischaracterizes the impact of the industry’s emissions.

Norway's Sleipner sequestration project has so far been successful but some worry what the consequences to the ocean would be if the sequestered acidic gases start migrating out. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Neelie Kroes, EC ommissioner: "The new environmental aid guidelines strike the right balance between generous support mechanisms for well-targeted aid supporting the environment and the preservation of competition…"
- EC: "CCS will only be deployed if the cost per tonne of CO2 avoided is lower than the carbon price…"
- Axel Eggert, European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries: "CCS or hydrogen technologies won't be commercially viable before 2020 at the earliest…"