Carbon capture and storage[fr][de] 

In order to fight global warming, governments are looking at technological solutions to keep the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere under control. One of the most promising technologies is carbon capture and storage (CCS, also called carbon sequestration). 

Carbon capture and storage is a technological process that separates the carbon dioxide from the gases produced by large stationary power plants, compresses the CO2 and then transports it to a location where it can be stored in geological formations or in the ocean. Wikipedia has a good introduction to the technology behind CCS.

The science and technology behind CCS are already manifest, but are not yet implemented with the purpose of reducing CO2 emissions. Further developments (esp. on storage) will be needed and several challenges have to be overcome if CCS is to be a fully fledged mitigation solution. A number of demonstration projects are now at various stages of development all over the world. According to the IEA, CCS technology could be deployed by 2015 on a broader scale if these demonstration projects deliver good results.

Main players in CCS are the multinational oil and gas campanies (ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, Statoil and others). For an overview of existing projects, see the map of existing CO2 capture projects and the European Commission's document "European CO2 capture and storage projects ".

Recent EU policy developments: 

• The EU established a European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) in 2005. Its aim is to enable EU fossil fuel plants with zero emission of carbon dioxide by 2020. The Platform consists of 25 members from industry, research, authorities and NGOs.
• In September 2006, the Zero Emission Technology Platform presented its Strategic Research Agenda and a Deployment Strategy.
• The Commission is a member of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum , an international framework for co-operation in research and development of CCS.
• In September 2007, the results of a Commission public consultation on low carbon technologies revealed significant public scepticism about the potential contribution of CCS and similar technologies to the fight against climate change (EurActiv 21/09/07). 

There are several major challenges for CCS:

• Improving the economics:
• • The IEA estimates today's costs of CCS "at between $40-90 per tonne of CO2 captured and stored depending on the power plant fuel and the technology used". The bulk of the cost is on the capture side. By 2030, costs could fall to below $25 dollars, according to the IEA.
  • Using CCS with new power plants would increase electricity production costs by 2-3 US cents/kWh.
• Long-term storage integrity - problems of leakage:
• • One of the biggest questions is whether the stored CO2 can be retained for long periods. Current storage projects such as the Statoil Sleipner project have only stored CO2 since 1996 and therefore can as yet deliver no proof that this kind of storage is safe in the long term.
• Public confidence in CCS:
  • Public support for CCS will be essential. According to a UK study (Tyndall 2004 ), the public is poorly informed and therefore rather sceptical. CCS is also not favoured as much as wind, wave, tidal and solar energy but preferred to nuclear.
• Site selection: 
  • Careful site selection with optimal verification procedures and monitoring instruments will be essential.
• Legal and regulatory framework:
  • Several international regimes related to marine protection and climate change (UNCLOS, London Protocol, OSPAR, Kyoto and others) are in place that will pose major legal challenges for CCS. One important issue is whether stored CO2 should be considered waste. For a good overview of legal challenges, see the 2005 IEA report  .
• Liability:
  • Property rights and liability issues are likely to be among the most difficult challenges. Questions here relate to ownership of stored CO2 and responsibility in case of leakage.
• Environmental impacts:
  • More research is needed on the potential environmental effects of CO2 retention and seepage on marine and land environments.

• Industry: 
• • Although several industry sectors and companies are interested in CCS, numerous barriers will have to be overcome before a widespread deployment of CCS technologies. There needs to be a business argument for CCS.
  • Several companies, such as Vattenfall, Shell, RWE and Statoil have announced industry-led CCS initiatives in the EU.
• Most NGOs are sceptical about CCS. They fear that CCS will prolong the world's oil dependence and drags money away from investments in renewable energy such as wind and solar.  
• • NGOs such as Greenpeace have labelled some projects as illegal; they argue that CO2 is waste and thus the existing rules against burying waste at sea should apply. 
  • Friends of the Earth wants the EU to reduce demand for energy first and then to develop a legal, regulatory and liability regime. It also asks for the adoption of international standards for site-selection and monitoring.