The week brought important policy and technology news concerning carbon capture and storage (CCS) from around the world. President Barack Obama unveiled a task force to make “clean coal” a reality as the European Union struck a major deal with member states for CCS funding. Caterpillar joined the FutureGen Alliance, and Siemens Energy said it would conduct a feasibility study for a novel postcombustion CCS system in West Virginia.
Obama: CCS Task Force Could Bring Several Demo Projects Online by 2016
The White House last week announced it would create a new interagency task force charged with speeding up deployment of technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants.
In a Feb. 3
memorandum, President Obama ordered the establishment of the Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage within 180 days with the explicit goal of overcoming the barriers of “widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years.” The task force would seek to bring five to 10 commercial demonstration plants online by 2016.
“The plan should explore incentives for commercial CCS adoption and address any financial, economic, technological, legal, institutional, social, or other barriers to deployment,” the president’s memo reads. “The Task Force should consider how best to coordinate existing administrative authorities and programs, including those that build international collaboration on CCS, as well as identify areas where additional administrative authority may be necessary.”
The task force will be co-chaired by representatives from the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency and will include participants from at least nine different agencies and offices.
The memo also points to the administration’s push for cap-and-trade legislation. “Ultimately, comprehensive energy and climate legislation that puts a cap on carbon pollution will provide the largest incentive for CCS because it will create stable, long-term, market-based incentives to channel private investment in low carbon technologies,” it states.
The task force would serve as part of a “new” strategy to quickly clear the way for clean coal, which the memo said was “essential” to help the U.S. become a leader in the “global clean energy race.”
“My Administration's new CCS strategy will pave the way for this energy transition by identifying and removing barriers to rapid commercial deployment and by providing greater legal and regulatory clarity,” the memo adds.
Source: The White House
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