NFPBS News
WCA Calls for Major Policy Shift on Carbon Capture and Storage
The World Coal Association (WCA) – a global industry association formed of major international coal producers and stakeholders – has unsurprisingly welcomed the publication last Tuesday (15th November) of the Global Status of CCS: 2016 report: calling on world leaders to increase support for CCS projects in order to meet the Paris Agreement targets. The report, published by the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI), highlights a number of significant operational milestones reached in 2016 and key projects that have either entered, or are close to, operation in 2016. The Global Status of CCS: 2016 is comprised of five unique publications including a Summary Report available to the public and a series of reports developed exclusively for Institute Members. http://www.globalccsinstitute.com/publications/global-status-ccs-2016-summary-report The WCA, which works to demonstrate and gain acceptance for the fundamental role coal plays in achieving a sustainable and lower emissions energy future, believes that the Paris Agreement* lays a foundation on which the world can build on its climate actions: • It is clear that that to limit temperatures to ‘well below’ 2°C, let alone 1.5°C all low emissions technologies including CCS need to be deployed. • Carbon capture, and storage (CCS) is essential to global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions – it can reduce emissions from coal by 90%. • 38 large-scale CCS projects have been identified around the world, of which 21 are due to be operational by the end of 2017. Together these 21 projects will be able to capture about 40 million tonnes of CO2 per annum. • The amount invested in other clean energy technologies has been 120 times greater than that for CCS. Worldwide, around US$2.5 trillion has been invested in clean energy technologies in the last 10 years, of which US$1.8 trillion has been on wind and solar technologies. In comparison, investment in CCS during the same period has been around US$20 billion. • The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that to meet the Paris Agreement goals, we need to capture and store almost 4,000Mt of carbon per annum by 2040. And to meet this expectation, we need to invest heavily in CCS technology. *The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, thirty days after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary.