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 Coal is a key fuel source for current and future electric power generation. Coal becomes even more critical when cost of electricity and security of supply issues are viewed in light of other fuel sources such as gas or uranium.
Yet coal combustion produces about 1.9 billion tons of CO2 per year in the U.S., roughly equivalent to all CO2 emissions from U.S. transport per year. The burning of coal, with more CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced than any other fossil fuel, has significant adverse climate change impacts.
One way to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power is to capture and store it permanently underground, a process called carbon capture and storage (CCS), also called carbon sequestration. CCS has captured the attention of policymakers, power generators, and environmentalists because of its potential as a bridging technology that will permit the continued use of coal as a fuel source while not contributing to a further destabilization of the climate. A great deal of work is underway to develop and improve the technologies, legal frameworks, and policies required for wide-scale deployment of CCS systems.
The main reason for this interest is that several major world economies, including the U.S., China, and India depend heavily on coal as an energy source. Alternative means of moving to a zero-carbon power mix, including wind or solar (which are dispersed and have variable output) and nuclear power (which raises difficult questions of security and waste disposal) require wrenching changes to our energy systems. CCS apparently offers the prospect of staving off climate disaster while maintaining something near the status quo. Coal can remain central to the energy mix, and CCS makes this possible.
But does it? There is in fact considerable complexity involved in deploying a national CCS system at the scale necessary to achieve significant emissions reductions. Indeed, it amounts to no less fundamental a transformation of the country’s energy infrastructure than would a huge-scale adoption of wind energy, for instance.
This report examines the challenges of this transformation under the four broad categories of technology, policy, legal and regulatory framework, and investment, and their implications for CCS as part of the solution to mitigate adverse climate change impacts.
Visit Capturing King Coal: Deploying Carbon Capture and Storage Systems in the U.S. at Scale Download Page
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FORWARD
Climate change is at the forefront of today’s environmental concerns. The scientific consensus is that climate change is a reality and human activities are largely responsible for the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere. Yet we are only beginning to fully comprehend the complex relationships between climatic variation and ecosystem degradation, biodiversity, clean water access and poverty. ...
CONCLUSION
Coal is cheap and abundant in the United States. It is undeniable that coal is, and will remain, the major fuel source for baseload power in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Therefore, any attempt to make coal-powered electricity generation more climate friendly through consideration of “clean” technologies such as CCS has significant value.
However, the economic challenge of constructing a significant carbon capture and sequestration industry in a timeframe to slow global climate change currently overwhelms its promise: ...
ABOUT WRI
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people’s lives.
Our mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide
for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Because people are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and moved to change by greater understanding, WRI provides—and helps other institutions provide—objective information and practical proposals for policy and institutional change that will foster environmentally sound, socially equitable development.
WRI organizes its work around four key goals:
- People & Ecosystems: Reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services.
- Access: Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment.
- Climate Protection: Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change.
- Markets & Enterprise: Harness markets and enterprise to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment.
About the Authors
Hiranya Fernando is a Senior Associate in the Markets and Enterprise Program at the World Resources Institute.
Her research focuses primarily on the financial and competitive implications of climate change and other environmental issues. She works with several investment banks on various environmental finance topics such as financing clean technology deployment at scale. Previously, Hiranya worked at the World Bank in Washington DC, and Merrill Lynch and Citigroup in Switzerland. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and a Masters of Laws and a B.Sc. in Government & Law from the London School of Economics.
John Venezia is an Associate with WRI’s Carbon Capture and Sequestration Project.
He focuses on assessing the potential climate impacts of CCS, policies for siting, accounting methodologies, monitoring and verification, and political and social acceptabilities; liaising with government, industry, and NGO experts to solicit their input for the multi-stakeholder process; and communicating project findings and messages.
He has over 10 years of experience analyzing the technical and economic aspects of global climate change issues. Prior to WRI, Mr. Venezia was a Project Manager at ICF International.
Clay Rigdon is a research analyst on the Capital Markets Research team at World Resources Institute. The Capital Markets Research team works with financial institutions to embed environmental risk and opportunities into financial analysis and investment decisions.
In addition, he conducts research and analysis on a variety of environmental finance topics primarily focusing on financial and competitive implications of climate change. He holds Bachelor of Business degree in Management from the University of Georgia.
Preeti Verma is a Research Assistant with WRI’s Climate Energy and Pollution Program.
Her research primarily focuses on scientific, policy, and social aspects of CCS technology. She is also facilitating a multi-stakeholder process, liaising with government, industry, NGOs and academia to develop guidelines for ensuring safe and effective deployment of CCS technology.
Prior to WRI, she has worked on climate change adaptation and mitigation issues at The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, India. Preeti holds a Masters in Environmental Policy from Clark University and Bachelors in Environmental Sciences from University of Delhi.
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