01 May 2008, Platts Power UK

Getting carbon capture and storage off the ground

The 2020 targets adopted by the European Union at its March 2007 Spring Council were ambitious. A reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20% of the 1990 level, a 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and a pledge that 20% of all energy consumed within the Union was to be renewable.

The Council also announced a target of commissioning of 12 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) plants by 2015. The goal of this program is to discover the actual costs of drastically reducing emissions from fossil fired power stations.

After months of deliberation, it was recognised that the current incentive for mitigating emissions of CO2, i.e. the EU Allowance price, was currently insufficient to encourage the necessary investment in the required timeframe.

Investment bank Climate Change Capital was invited to give financial advice to the Zero Emission Platform on the form of financing mechanism most likely to succeed.

CCC's recommendations were delivered last autumn and they were not received with great enthusiasm.  CCC's Tony White and Ian Temperton set out the thought process that led them to the alarming notion that awarding stored CO2 with EU allowances might be in order.

To read the Platts article click here.

For more information contact the Communications Team

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