5 January 2009
CCSA Becomes Founding Member of GCCSI
The CCSA has become a Founding Member of the Global Carbon Capture
and Storage Institute. The Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Australian Government, saying that it will support the GCCSI in fostering
a global portfolio of CCS demonstration projects. The creation of the GCCSI
was announced on the 19th September last year, with Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd pledging $100 million per year to facilitate CCS demonstration
projects as well as identifying further research as necessary. Other Founding
Members include Alstom, Shell, Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi Corporation, Schlumberger,
Anglo American, Xstrata Coal and the Climate Group. The UK, Norway and South
Korea have also all recently announced membership.
22 December 2008
CBI Releases Report on the Future of
Coal
The CBI has today released a policy paper – The future of
coal: securing electricity supply and clean coal technology. The paper
describes CCS as vital if coal is to have a long term future and states that
more support is needed to commercialise CCS by 2020. According to the paper,
the UK could become a world leader in CCS technology and see significant benefits
from the industry. However it also says that more than one demonstration project
is needed to see this reward and that the UK government should consider financial
support for additional UK-based demonstration projects. Investment in these
projects, it says, should be sanctioned in 2009 with construction beginning
in 2010. View the full
story and the report.
20 December 2008
UK Joins GCCSI
The UK has announced that it has joined the Global Carbon Capture and Storage
Institute, along with South Korea and Norway. The announcement was made at
an international energy and oil ministers meeting held in London on 19 December
to discuss oil price volatility. The important potential of CCS to reduce
CO2 emissions was noted during the meeting. In advance of the meeting it was
also announced that the UK and Canada have signed a joint statement on CCS,
agreeing to share experience and information in order to develop and promote
the technology.
Read the DECC press
release. View the full GCCSI
story and the Canada-UK
Joint Statement story.
17 December 2008
European Parliament Approves CCS Directive and Funding
The EU Climate and Energy package was today given the green light as the European
Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of all the Directives. This included
the CCS Directive, which saw no further changes with 623 votes in favour,
68 against and 22 abstentions. The Parliament also agreed funding of 300 million
allowances under the EU ETS would to support the EU CCS demonstration projects.
View the full
story. The adopted text is available here.
12 December 2008
EU Council Agrees Funding for CCS
EU leaders have today agreed a deal to provide support for the construction
of CCS demonstration projects. Following the latest meetings in Europe, the
final decision from the EU Council states a figure of 300 million allowances
to fund the EU’s 10-12 CCS projects. This figure is an increase from
the Council’s draft conclusions to allocate 200 million allowances,
which prompted immense pressure from CCS Directive rapporteur Chris Davies,
as well as the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for the Council to improve
its position. The final vote on the 300 million allowances takes place at
the next plenary session on the 17th December, as part of the wider vote on
the entire EU Climate and Energy Package.
View the conclusions
from the EU Council. View the DECC press
notice.
11 December 2008
Poznan – Still no Agreement on CCS in CDM
Members of the UN Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice
(SBSTA), meeting at the UNFCCC conference in Poznan this week (COP 14), could
not reach agreement to include CCS in the Clean Development Mechanism. Further
decisions on the involvement of CCS in CDM will therefore be delayed until
the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen taking place next year. View the full
story.
10 December 2008
Policy Exchange Releases Report on UK Energy Policy
The think tank Policy Exchange has today released a report entitled ‘Credible
energy policy – Meeting the challenges of security of supply and climate
change’. The report discusses the pressing need in the UK for energy
policy that addresses both security of supply in the UK and meeting climate
change objectives. In relation to CCS the report specifically recommends that
the Renewables Obligation should be transformed into a Low Carbon Obligation
that includes nuclear power and CCS, as well as renewables. Read the full
report. The Association welcomed the report
with the following press
release.
10 December 2008
RWE NPower Announces Joint Venture Entry into UK CCS Competition
CCSA member RWE npower has today announced that it has formed a joint venture
partnership with Peel Holdings and Dong Energy to develop a CCS demonstration
project as part of the UK CCS competition. If successful in the competition,
the project would comprise a 400 MW post-combustion capture facility (as part
of a new supercritical coal fired power station) with storage in disused gas
fields in the North Sea. View the press
release.
10 December 2008
Ed Miliband Speech Recognises Importance of CCS
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, yesterday described
the development of CCS as essential, not just for the UK, but also for the
world as a whole. The remark was made as part of a speech at Imperial College
entitled ‘The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of a Department of Energy’.
He said that proposals on moving towards a low carbon path, including driving
CCS, would be published in the New Year. View the speech.
8 December 2008
Shell and Essent to Undertake CCS Feasibility Study
CCSA member Shell has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dutch
energy company Essent agreeing to undertake a feasibility study into a 1000
MW power plant with CCS in the Netherlands. The study will assess the possibility
of combining a high efficiency gasifier (to convert both coal and solid biomass),
a power generation plant and CCS equipment, as well as assessing the suitability
of particular depleted oil and gas fields for CO2 storage. View the press
release.
8 December 2008
Alstom and PGE Elektrownia Belchatow announce CCS project
CCSA member Alstom announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with Polish power generators PGE Elektrownia Belchatow to develop and deploy
CCS at the Belchatow power plant in Poland. The project will be carried out
in two phases: Alstom will in the initial phase design and build a pilot capture
plant (at an existing unit) to be operational in 2011. The second phase will
see the two companies construct a larger CCS project expected to be operational
in 2015. The project is said to be a candidate for taking part in the EU CCS
Flagship Programme. View the press
release.
1 December 2008
Shell Acquires Cansolv
CCSA member Shell announced today that they have acquired 100% of shares in
Cansolv Technologies Inc. Cansolv offers technology to reduce air pollution,
which includes capturing CO2 and scrubbing SO2 from gas streams. Their expertise
in carbon capture will allow Shell to further explore and develop post-combustion
capture technology. View the press
release.
1 December 2008
UKERC Publishes Report on Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy in the UK
The UK Energy Research Council has today published its report ‘Pathways
to a Low Carbon Economy: What will it take for the UK?’ The report describes
the need for decarbonisation of the electricity sector (through increasingly
widespread deployment of coal with CCS, nuclear and wind power) as key to
achieving large reductions in emissions. It also stresses that Government
support is urgently required for demonstration and commercialisation of CCS
and renewable technologies. View the full
story.
1 December 2008
Committee on Climate Change Releases First Report to Government
The Committee on Climate Change has today released its report ‘Building
a low-carbon economy – the UK’s contribution to tackling climate
change’. It recommends the first three UK carbon budgets up to 2022,
setting the UK on a path to reaching a target of 80% reductions in emissions
by 2050. The report describes CCS as an “essential technology for reducing
global emissions” and states that it must be developed rapidly.
View the report.
The Association welcomed the report with the following press
release.
24 November 2008
DNV Launches JIP for Qualifying CO2 Storage Sites
DNV has launched a joint industry project (JIP) to develop a standard method
for characterising, selecting and qualifying both onshore and offshore CO2
storage sites. The outcomes of the JIP will provide guidance on establishing
safe, permanent and cost-effective CO2 storage sites. The JIP is open to new
participants until the end of the year. View the press
release.
13 November 2008
EC launches Second Strategic Energy Review
The European Commission has today launched its Second Strategic Energy
Review – Securing Our Energy Future. This energy package recommends
a new strategy aimed at increasing energy solidarity between Member States
and including stimulus for investment in low-carbon energy networks. Next
steps include the development of a Roadmap towards a 2050 energy policy, as
part of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, which includes a Communication
on Financing Low Carbon Technologies, covering amongst others, ways to
support up to 12 large scale CCS demonstrations plants.
View the Strategic
Energy Review and associated documents.
12 November 2008
Australian Coal Association Launches CCS Website
The Australian Coal Association has today launched a new interactive website
explaining CCS and the ongoing work of the coal industry to develop technologies
that reduce carbon dioxide from coal. View the website www.newgencoal.com.au
and press
release
10 November 2008
ZEP Publishes Report on EU CCS Demonstration Programme
The European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants
(ZEP) at their General Assembly, have today unveiled their proposals for the
structure of the EU CCS Demonstration Programme. The report details plans
that could accelerate the deployment of CCS in the EU by as much as 10 years,
with the aim of achieving commercially viable CCS projects by 2020. The report
makes detailed suggestions for a portfolio of CCS projects, covering the full
range of CCS technologies and fuel sources as well as geography and geologies
across the EU.
View the report
and associated documents as well as the General Assembly welcome
speech by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs
6 November 2008
New International Centre for CCS
A new international centre for CCS has today been announced by CCSA member
Shell and the Government of Saskatchewan. Known as the International Performance
Centre for Geological Storage of CO2, or IPAC-CO2, it is located at the
Canadian University of Regina and aims to help make Canada a world leader
in the deployment and acceptance of CCS. More specifically, the centre will
focus on a variety of issues such as assessing proposed CCS projects, increasing
stakeholder and public awareness of CCS and networking internationally to
promote research sharing. View the press
release.
29-30 October 2008
CCS Financing Conference
The Association together with the Canadian High Commission organised a workshop
on Carbon Capture and Storage at Canada House in Trafalgar Square.
View the presentations:
Wednesday 29 October
Neil
Hirst (IEA)
Kevin
Stringer (Natural Resources Canada)
Stuart
Haszeldine(Edinburgh Uni)
Ian
Bailey (Univeristy of Regina)
Sverre
Aam (Sintef)
Bjorn-Erik
Haugen (Gassnova)
Ian
Hayhow (Natural Resources Canada)
Rachel
Crisp (DECC)
Iain
Wright (BP)
John
Osborne (HTC Purenergy)
Stephen
Kaufman (ICO2N)
Robyn
Seeley (Shell)
Aoued
Kaddour (StatoilHydro)
Thursday 30 October
Kevin
Stringer (Natural Resources Canada)
Tone
Skogen (Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum & Energy)
Bronwen
Northmore (UK DECC)
Chris
Mansfield (Shell)
James
Watt (Amec)
Hans-Richard
Hansen (Teekay Shipping)
Susan
Cole (Enhance Canada)
Steve
Wing (Well Engineering and Operations)
Ian
Temperton (Climate Change Capital)
John
Kessels (IEA Clean Coal Centre)
20 October 2008
IEA Launches CCS Report
The International Energy Agency today launched its new report 'Carbon
Dioxide Capture and Storage: A Key Carbon Abatement Option'. The report
concludes that CCS could deliver cost effective emissions reductions, but
this will not be achieved without the willingness of governments and industry
to fund large-scale demonstration projects. The report covers, amongst others,
a proposed roadmap for CCS to achieve significant emissions reductions, as
well as progress on issues such as the legal and regulatory framework. At
the launch of the report Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the IEA, said
“The window of opportunity is closing for the global community to cost-effectively
address climate change. CCS technologies must play a key role, but first they
must be proven in the next decade.”
View the IEA
website for further details and to purchase a copy of the report
16 October 2008
Ed Milliband Announces 80% Climate Change Target
In his first statement to the Commons as Secretary of State for the newly
formed Department of Energy and Climate Change, Ed Milliband outlined the
goals of the new Department stating that despite the economic downturn, the
UK would not be retreating from climate change objectives. To emphasise this
he announced an amendment to the Climate Change Bill to include an ambitious
binding target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He
also noted the importance of investment in CCS.
View the DECC press
release and full Commons statement.
The Association welcomed the statement with the following press
release.
3 October 2008
Government Reshuffle and New Department
The Prime Minster has today completed his reshuffle within Government and
has simultaneously created a new Department for Energy & Climate Change,
with Ed Miliband MP as the Secretary of State. Other appointments include
Mike O'Brien MP and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath both as Ministers of State, Department
for Energy & Climate Change and Joan Ruddock MP as Under Secretary of
State, Deparment for Energy & Climate Change. View the full
list of Cabinet Ministers and the BERR
press release on the new department or view the website www.decc.gov.uk.
1 October 2008
Drax Signs Contract with Doosan Babcock for Biomass Co-Firing Systems
CCSA members Drax Power and Doosan Babcock have signed a £10 million
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the latter to
supply biomass co-firing systems to all six coal-fired units at the 4GW Drax
Power Station in Yorkshire. The installation is scheduled to be completed
by the end of 2009, and thereby - together with Drax’s existing co-firing
capability of 500 MWe of electricity – making the co-firing facility
the largest of its type in the world. View the website.
23 September 2008
RWE NPower Announces Completion of CO2 Capture Test Facilities at Didcot
CCSA member RWE npower has announced that new CO2 capture facilities at its
Didcot power station will be completed in September 2008. The test facility
will allow the company to evaluate the capture of CO2 from flue gases after
coal combustion and from oxyfuel firing. In addition, the company said that
plans to capture CO2 from a commercially operating plant at Aberthaw in South
Wales will begin in 2009. View the full
story.
16 September 2008
Scottish Power Investigates North Sea CO2 Storage Potential
A consortium led by CCSA member ScottishPower is investigating the possibility
of utilising an aquifier under the North Sea identified as having the potential
to store Europe entire CO2 emissions for the next 600 years. The consortium
is developing the technical aspects of their CCS power station at Longannet,
which was a successful pre-qualifier in the UK CCS Competition. View the full
story and the press
release.
15 September 2008
CCS Financing Conference
The Association together with the World Energy Council organised a conference
on "Carbon Capture and Storage Financing Challenges and Opportunities"
kindly hosted by the City of London Corporation at Mansion House.
View the presentations:
Barbara
McKee (WEC)
Anna
Skarbek (Climate Change Capital)
Alastair
Rennie (AMEC)
Christopher
Mansfield (Shell)
Cliff
Warman (Marsh)
Henry
Derwent (IETA)
John
Pothecary (RPS)
Eckhardt
Rummler (E.ON) (9MB ppt)
Lewis
Gillies (Hydrogen Energy)
Hardiv
Situmeang (PT PLN)
11 September 2008
EC Launches Call for Tender to Establish CCS Project Network
The European Commission has launched a call for tender to establish and run
a network of projects to demonstrate the use of CCS technology in power plants.
The selection process should be complete by the beginning of 2009. View the
press
release.
4 September 2008
Doosan Babcock Gains Right to Use HTC Purenergy’s CCS technology
CCSA member Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd has secured the right to use HTC Purenergy
Inc.’s carbon capture and storage technology. This agreement will allow
it to participate in large projects both in Europe and the US. View the full
story.
29 August 2008
RWE NPower Begins Construction of ’Capture-Ready’ Coal Power Plant
in Hamm
RWE npower, a CCSA member, has commenced construction of a new 1,600 MW hard
coal power plant in Hamm, Germany. The €2 billion plant is expected to
be built ‘capture-ready’ with the potential to retro-fit for post-combustion
capture and storage of CO¬2 from 2020. View the full
story.
29 August 2008
German RWE Plans IGCC Plant With CCS in Huerth
CCSA member RWE npower plans to build a 450 MW IGCC plant with CCS in Huerth,
Germany. It will be fuelled by locally sourced lignite with 90% of CO2 emissions
being captured and stored in deep saline formations. The estimated cost of
the plant is €2 billion, of which half has already been committed by
RWE, and the plant is due to be commissioned by the end of 2014. View the
full
story.
27 August 2008
StatoilHydro to Start Full Scale CCS Operation in 2014
CCSA member StatoilHydro announced a new 280 MW power plant in Mongstad (currently
a research centre), which will capture 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 every year
when it begins full scale operation in 2014. View the full
story.
20 August 2008
EPSRC Issues Calls on CCS
The Engineering and Physcial Sciences Research Council together with E.ON
have today issued a call for multidisciplinary consortia looking into research
to develop CCS related to power stations. A maximum of £5m will be available
for this call and closing date for applications is the 6th November 2008.
View the website
for more information.
20 August 2008
MHI Signs Contract with Gassnova
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a CCSA member, has signed a contract to carry
out the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies for Gassnova’s
planned CCS plant in Norway. The facility is expected to capture 3,000 tonnes
of CO2 from an existing 420 MW gas fired power plant in Kårstø.
If the FEED study is considered to be qualified, MHI will then take part in
the competition to construct the facility. View the full
story.
18 August 2008
€40 Million Carbon Capture Research Programme Begins in Norway
Norway has launched a €40 million research and development programme,
with the aim of developing more efficient and cost-effective chemical processes
for capturing CO2 from process industry and fossil fuel fired power station
emissions. SINTEF, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology and
CCSA member Aker Clean Coal have all signed up to collaborate on the programme,
which will last eight years and operate under the name SOLVit. View the full
story.
18 August 2008
Canada’s First Low Carbon IGCC Plant to Use Siemens Coal Gasification
Technology
CCSA member Siemens coal gasification technology has been chosen for use in
Canada’s first low carbon IGCC power plant. The 250MW plant, planned
to be built in Genesee by EPCOR Power Generation is scheduled to come on line
in 2015. It is designed to capture around 85% of its CO2 emissions for EOR.
View the full
story.
15 August 2008
US Department of Energy Announces CCS Funding
As part of its Clean Coal Power Initiative, the US Department of Energy has
announced its third round of funding, which is expected to provide up to $340m
to selected commercial scale CCS demonstration projects that will commence
in 2009. These projects will be run by industry teams and recipients of funding
will be required to provide half of the project costs. View the full
story.
12 August 2008
US Department of Energy and SWP Begin CO2 Storage Project
The US Department of Energy and the Southwest Regional Partnership (SWP),
which includes CCSA members ConocoPhillips, Schlumberger and Shell, have begun
a six month demonstration project of injecting CO2 into a coalbed at the San
Juan Basin in New Mexico. The project aims to recover methane whilst injecting
over 31,000 tonnes of CO2. View the full
story.
16 July 2008
US Proposes Rules on CO2 Storage
The Bush administration has set out proposals for new regulations governing
the storage of CO2. The regulations, which are likely to be adopted in 2010
or 2011, aim to protect underground sources of water by measures such as extensive
testing and site monitoring as well as investigating any CO2 migration and
the requirement for sufficient funds to cover the cost of site care, closure
and emergency response. View the full
story.
10 July 2008
Western Australia Plans Centre for CCS
Plans for a new coal testing and education facility in Collie, Western Australia,
are in development. The centre will look at the potential for CCS amongst
other research into technologies that emit less greenhouse gases. View the
full
story.
9 July 2008
G8 Statement on CCS
At the G8 summit held 7-9 July in Hokkaido, Japan, the G8 leaders agreed to
"support the launching of 20 large-scale CCS demonstration project globally
by 2010". An agreement was also reached to "consider and adopt in
the UNFCCC negotiations, the goal of achieving at least 50% reduction of global
emissions by 2050".
View the full statement
and associated documents.
8 July 2008
Alberta Announces $4bn for Climate Measures
The Government of Alberta today announced a funding amount of $4bn towards
their Climate Plan. This includes $2bn along in funding to develop CCS technology.
View the full
story.
2 July 2008
IPPR Publishes report on the Future of Coal-Fired Power
The Institute for Public Policy Research have today released their report
"After the Coal Rush: Assessing policy options for coal-fired electricity
generation" which recommends that the EU should agree a timetable and
financing for the goal of 12 CCS demonstration plants by 2015, as well as
recommending that the UK should support a second CCS demonstration project
and begin planning the infrastructure to transport carbon dioxide to storage
in the North Sea.
View the full
report and press
release.
2 July 2008
Tony Blair Submits Climate Report to G8 Summit
Former Prime Minster Tony Blair published the first Breaking the Climate
Deadlock initiative report setting out the framework for a new global
climate deal. On CCS, the report states that "It will be very challenging,
if not impossible, to hit significant abatement targets without CCS".
View the full
report.
30 June 2008
UK Government Launches CCS Consultation
The UK Government today launched their CCS regulatory consultation, covering
the regulation of storage sites, capture-readiness and the EU CCS Directive.
In addition, the shortlist of pre-qualified bidders for the CCS demonstration
competition was also announced, with the winner expected to be named mid 2009.
View the CCS
consultation and press
release.
The Association welcomed the consultation with the following press
release and Incentives
position paper.
View the Association's full
response to the consultation.
16 June 2008
Cameron Signals Strong Support for CCS
David Cameron today gave the strongest Conservative support for CCS in a speech
to environmental leaders, announcing that a Conservative Government will implement
a Californian model of an Emissions Performance Standard and utilise revenue
from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances "to fund at lease three CCS
demonstration projects over the next five to ten years".
Read the full
speech.
11 June 2008
EU ETS Directive Draft Report Published
Avril Doyle MEP, the rapporteur for the proposed EU Directive to improve and
extend the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, has today published her report on
the Directive, which will be submitted to other MEPs for consideration and
voting later in the year. In her report, MEP Doyle has proposed various measures
to incentivise CCS projects through the EU ETS mechanism. View the full
report.
9 June 2008
New Blog on CCS Debates in Brussels
Mark Johnston of E3G has launched his new blog that will report on CCS debates
in Brussels. The blog aims to open an effective, independent channel of communication
that will reach those with interests in policy and legislation. View the blog.
6 June 2008
IEA Calls for Investment in Clean Energy
The International Energy Agency has today published its report entitled ‘Now
or never: IEA energy technology perspectives’, warning that business-as-usual
scenarios will result in CO2 emissions rising by 130% and oil demand increases
of 70% by 2050. The report contains global roadmaps for development and deployment
of key energy technologies in order to either see current emissions levels
in 2050 or to achieve 50% reductions on current levels by 2050. The report
estimates that on average 35 coal and 20 gas-fired power stations with CCS
would be needed every year between 2010 and 2050 amongst other technologies
that are all essential to reach the emissions targets. View the press
release.
6 June 2008
Yorkshire Forward Published Report on CCS Network
CCSA Member Yorkshire Forward together with several other CCSA members have
today released a report concuding the study on how a CCS network for the Yorkshire
and Humber region can be developed. The region is home to a number of the
UK's largest power stations and, once complete, could store up to 60 million
tonnes of carbon emissions from the regions fossil fuel power plants.
View the full
report and press
release.
5 June 2008
EU CCS Directive Draft Report Published
Chris Davies MEP, the rapporteur for the proposed EU Directive on the geological
storage of carbon dioxide, has today published his report on the Directive,
where he calls for all existing fossil fuel power plants to be fitted with
CCS by 2025 as well as proposing that no new power plants should be built
after 2015 that are unable to reduce at least 90% of their carbon dioxide
emissions. It is expected that the report will achieve first reading adoption
in the plenary debate in September. View the full
report.
Chris Davies held a press conference on the 6th May setting out his top priorities
for the report and the Association responded with the following press
release.
28 May 2008
GE and Schlumberger Sign Carbon Sequestration Alliance
CCSA members GE Energy and Schlumberger have signed an alliance agreement
to accelerate the commercial development and deployment of ‘cleaner
coal’ technology. The agreement brings together GE’s expertise
with IGCC technology and Schlumberger’s expertise on CO2 Storage. GE
stated that “Under this new arrangement, our companies will align the
technical needs of capture and storage for high operability and work in concert
to offer customers a cost effective solution that will provide a complete
answer for IGCC with CCS that can be readily implemented under the proper
regulatory framework.” View the press
release.
18 May 2008
New Website on CCS Regulation in EU and China
The STRACO2 Consortium have today launched their new Project Website, providing
a communication platform for their project on CCS Regulation in EU and China.
View the website http://www.euchina-ccs.org.
15 May 2008
Shell Joins IEA’s Canadian CCS project
CCSA member Shell has joined several other companies in sponsoring the IEA
CCS research project in Canada. The $80 million Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring
and Storage Project is in its final phase of investigating the long-term storage
of CO2 in mature oil reservoirs. Mr Collyer, President of Shell Canada commented
that “This research will further understanding about the safety and
effectiveness of long-term underground storage of CO2 and enable the public
and regulatory agencies to make informed choices.” View the full
story and press
release.
6-7 May 2008
DOE Commits Significant Funds for CCS
The US Department of Energy has announced large amounts of funds towards CCS
as part of its Regional Sequestration Partnerships and FutureGen Clean Coal
Projects. Under its Regional Sequestration Partnerships, $126.6 million has
been awarded to the West Coast Regional Sequestration Partnership and the
Midwest Regional Sequestration Partnership for the fifth and sixth of seven
awards for projects that will test the storage of carbon dioxide. Under the
restructured FutureGen project, the DOE has allocated $1.3 billion towards
multiple coal-fired power plants with CCS, with projects expected to be selected
by December. View the DOE
carbon sequestration page, Regional
Sequestration Partnership press release, and FutureGen
article.
5 May 2008
ExxonMobil Plans to Build CCS Demonstration Plant
The oil company ExxonMobil has today announced a commitment of more
than $100 million (£50 million) towards a CCS demonstration project
that will remove carbon dioxide from natural gas. The project, to be based
in Wyoming, will use a technology entitled Controlled Freeze Zone (CFZ), which
freezes and then melts the carbon dioxide, thereby removing other unwanted
components as well. The plant is expected to being operation in 2009. View
the full press
release.
1 May 2008
Scotland Introduces Consent Motion on CCS Regulation
The Scottish Government has today introduced a Legislative Consent
Motion to allow a common regulatory framework for CCS to be introduced across
the UK. A Memorandum of Understanding will be developed between the UK Government
and the Scottish Government to implement the common framework and a consultation
on a licensing regime is expected in the summer. View the full press
release.
23 April 2008
British-Norwegian Workshop on CCS
A workshop on The Business Case for Carbon Capture and Storage
(CCS) was today held at the offices of Deutsche Bank in London. Co-supported
by the Association, this successful event was a joint British-Norwegian effort,
covering a wide range of issues such as financing CCS, comparing
technologies and building the CO2 value chain. The keynote address
was given by Michael Jacobs, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister. View the
webcast
from the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
View the presentations and summaries from the day:
Agenda
Opening
Address (K.H.Norve - Innovation Norway)
Ross
Jobber (Deutsche Bank)
Tony
White (Climate Change Capital)
Colin
Scoins (E.ON)
Oscar
Graff (Aker CleanCarbon)
Leif
Dons (Sargas)
Alastair
Rennie (AMEC)
Olav
Kaarstad (StatoilHydro)
Nils
Rokke (SINTEF)
CCSA
summary
Innovation
Norway summary
Speakers
biographies
22 April 2008
Carbon Dioxide Injection Begins at Snohvit
CCSA member StatoilHydro today began carbon dioxide
injection and storage at the Snohvit field outside Hammerfest, Norway. At
full capacity, the project will store 700,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, and
represents the second large CCS project in Norway for StatoilHydro after the
Sleipner project, which already stores 1million tonnes of CO2 per year. View
the full news
release.
15 April 2008
Alberta Plans Large CCS Project
A partnership between ARC Resources Ltd and the Alberta Research Council
have today announced the start of research into a CCS plant that could store
over 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. $1.8 million has been allocated to
the research, which will cover 3 phases, the first of which is to investigate
the geology of the Redwater reef northeast of Edmonton. View the full article.
11 April 2008
TransAlta and Alstom Agree joint work on CCS Project
An agreement has been signed between TransAlta Corp and Alstom (CCSA
member) to develop a large scale CCS project in Alberta. The first phase of
the project, will focus on advancing and improving the understanding of CCS
technology, and will cost $12 million. Testing is expected to begin in 2012.
View the full article.
3 April 2008
Defra Publishes Draft Marine Bill
Defra have today published the draft Marine Bill for consultation -
which will close on the 26th June 2008. One of the key issues included in
the Bill is the creation of a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) which may
impact on CCS legislation. View the draft
Marine Bill and associated documents.
2 April 2008
CO2CRC Launches CCS Project in Western Victoria
Australia today launched its first CCS project in Western Victoria
as injection of carbon dioxide began at the CO2CRC Otway CCS facility. The
project will inject 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide at a depth of 2km and
is internationally recognised as a Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF)
project. Project partners include various public and private organisations,
with monitoring technology partly provided by the US Department of Energy.
View the full CO2CRC
press release and ABC
News article.
1 April 2008
EU Framework Programme 6 European Research Area Network Publishes 1st Call
for R&D
The FENCO-ERA NET Network, focussed on clean fossil energy, has today
launched its first call for Proposals for Collaborative Research Projects
on two themes relating to CCS. View the website
for more information.
31 March 2008
E.ON Announces Entry into the UK's CCS Competition
CCSA member E.ON has today announced that it will be an entrant into the UK
Government's CCS competition. This entry will be based on the proposed Kingsnorth
coal-fired power station in Kent, which is planned as two new, more efficient
CCS-ready 800MW units. View the full press
release.
20 March 2008
RWE Npower Announces CCS Project Partners
RWE npower (a CCSA member) has today announced a partnership with five companies
to build its proposed 1MW CCS demonstration project in Wales by 2010, scaling
up to a demonstration project of at 100MW as part of a cleaner coal power
station at Tilbury. The project partners include BOC, Cansolv Technologies
Inc, IM Skaugen, The Shaw Group and Tullow Oil plc, and form part of the proposal
for RWE npower's entry into the UK Government's competition to build the first
CCS demonstration plant in the UK. View the full press
release.
19 March 2008
BERR Co-Sponsors CO2 Storage Database
BERR and the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D programme have co-sponsored a Features,
Events and Process (FEP) database on geological CO2 storage. The database
aims to provide a central source of information and to support the long-term
safety and performance assessments of such storage. View the full
story.
12 March 2008
CCS in UK Budget 2008
The Chancellor has today delivered his first Budget to Government. Chapter
6: An Environmentally Sustainable World gives details of how the domestic
Environmental Transformation Fund will be allocated. This contains an allocation
to “renewable energy and low-carbon technologies (at least £200m)”
which includes CCS. The chapter also states that “BERR will shortly
announce a new call for expressions of interest under the Environmental Transformation
Fund to support the development of component parts of CCS.” View the
full report and
press notices.
27 February 2008
Canada Announces CCS Funding in Budget
Canada has announced funding for CCS as part of the Canadian Budget 2008.
This includes $240 million for Saskatchewan’s proposed full, commercial
scale CCS demonstration project at a coal-fired power station. The province
has agreed to share the results of this demonstration with the Canadian Government,
other provinces and industry. The Canadian Budget also provides $5 million
for geological research into potential storage sites in Nova Scotia and $5
million to the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy at
the University of Calgary to carry out work on the regulatory, economic and
technical issues surrounding CCS. View the Budget.
21 February 2008
ZEP Writes CCS letter to EU Commission
The European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants
(ZEP) has written to the EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs confirming
their belief that a network of CCS demonstration projects in the EU is essential
to ensuring that CCS is commercially viable by 2020. The letter also expresses
support for the policy direction given by the EC on CCS and states that the
companies represented by ZEP are ready to increase investment in CCS provided
that appropriate legal and financial frameworks are developed to stimulate
deployment of these commercial scale demonstration projects. View the letter.
18 February 2008
Alberta to have widespread CCS by 2015
Alberta’s Environment Ministry expects to see widespread commercial
use of CCS in the province by 2015 as a means of addressing the rising emissions
due to Alberta’s expanding oil sands industry. Alberta’s plan,
announced in January, to halve emissions by 2050 will be achieved largely
through use of CCS, and the deployment of CCS in the region will therefore
be needed by 2015. Alberta has also announced a CCS council to advise the
government and liaise with industry in developing suitable policy and partnerships.
View the full
story.
30 January 2008
New Report on Business Opportunities in Climate Change
The EEF and Deloitte have today released a report on how climate change is
creating billions of pounds in opportunities for manufacturing. The report
"Delivering the low-carbon economy: business opportunities for UK manufacturers"
estimates that the CCS business could be worth $40bn (£20bn) by 2030.
View the full report and press
release.
23 January 2008
EU Commission Releases Energy & Climate Package
The EU Commission have today set out a package of legislative proposals, which
will set the path towards an EU- wide cut in carbon dioxide emissions of 20%
by 2020. The package covers proposals on a range or measures, including several
Directives on; the extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the promotion
of renewable energy and CO2 storage, as well as a communication on supporting
early demonstration of sustainable fossil fuel power generation.
View the full Energy
& Climate Package and associated documents.
10 January 2008
UK Government Publishes Energy Bill
Following the Energy Review 2006 and the publication of the Energy White Paper
in 2007, the UK Government have today published their ambitious Energy Bill
which, amongst other things, proposes primary legislation to create a regulatory
framework for CCS.
View the Energy
Bill and associated documents.
The Association welcomed the White
Paper with the following press
release (pdf)
January 2008
IEA Booklet on Safety of CO2 Storage
The International Energy Agency have published a booklet "Geological
Storage of Carbon Dioxide - Staying Safely Underground".
View the
booklet (pdf)
2007
December 2007
CCSA Publishes Second Issue of "CCSA News"
The Association this month launches the second issue of "CCSA News",
reflecting a busy time for CCS since the first issue was launched in May,
including new project developments and progress on policy.
Download here
(pdf)
17 December 2007
Total to Share CCS Project Data with Indonesia
CCSA member Total has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesia,
concerning the company’s CCS project in Lacq, France. Under the agreement
Indonesia will have access to data that Total collects from the Lacq pilot
project. View the full
story.
12 December 2007
North Sea CO2 Transport and Storage Infrastructure Study Published
The North Sea Basin Task Force, comprising of individuals representing the
Governments, public and private sectors of the UK and Norway, have today released
the report on the work of the North Sea CO2 transport and storage infrastructure
study. The study, which was commissioned in June 2006, was produced in association
with Element Energy, Poyry Energy and the British Geological Survey.
View the full
report.
29 November 2007
G8 Workshop backs Carbon Capture and Storage
A third G8/IEA/CSLF workshop on carbon capture and storage was held in Calgary
on the 29th November. The workshop - attended by governments, industry, environmental
NGOs and scientific representatives from over 15 countries - agreed a series
of recommendations to enable early global deployment of CCS. These recommendations
will be presented to the July 2008 meeting of G8 leaders in Japan.
The Association issued a joint press release with the Australian Coal Association
and the World Coal Institute welcoming the recommendations. Read
here (pdf)
26 November 2007
CBI Publishes New Climate Change Report
Concluding 10 months of work, the CBI Climate Change Task Force have today
released the report "Climate Change: Everyone's Business", setting
out priority areas for action to enable the UK to meeting carbon reduction
targets. Measures include removing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel
power plants, through a greater use of CCS. View the full
report.
22 November 2007
Major Science Report on Vital New Technologies
The Council for Science and Technology (CST) have today published the report
"Strategic decision making for technology policy" highlighting six
key new technologies that are central to the UK's future prosperity, the first
of which is CCS.
VIew the full
report.
19 November 2007
Prime Minister Launces UK CCS Competition
The Prime Minster, in his speech on climate change to WWF, today launched
the UK Competition to build the first commercial CCS project "demonstrating
the full chain of CO2 capture, transport and storage". It is estimated
that a preferred bidder will be appointed in 2009.
More information and related documents here.
6 November 2007
Queens Speech Announces Forthcoming Energy Bill
The Queen today gave her annual speech to Parliament, setting out the Government's
legislative agenda for the next year. Included in the speech is an announcement
on the forthcoming Energy Bill, which will "create a regulatory frameork
to enable private sector investment in CCS projects". View the Energy
Bill brief and associated
webpage.
5 November 2007
IPPR Publishes Research Reports on UK Emissions Target
Two new reports simultaneously published today by the Institute for Public
Policy Research (IPPR) set out the possibility of the UK achieving an 80%
cut in CO2 emissions by 2050 and what would be needed to achieve such a cut.
The report 80% Challenge: Delivering a low-carbon UK, jointly written by the
IPPR, WWF and RSPB looks at domestic measures to achieve the desired cut,
including "switching to low-carbon technologies in the electricity sector...alongside
a roll out of new Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies". View
both reports here.
9 October 2007
Further Details on Government CCS Competition Announced
Alongside the Pre-Budget Report, which was released today, the Department
for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform today announced further details
on the UK Government's Competition to build a CCS plant in the UK (to be launched
in November).
View the announcement
as well as associated
documents on the Competition.
The Association responded with the following press
release (pdf)
28 September 2007
Yorkshire Cultivates Green Image
A study into Carbon Capture and Storage in Yorkshire has today been launched
by CCSA member Yorkshire Forward. The largest study into CCS in the UK, the
steering group consists of key partners BP, Shell, E.ON, Drax and Scottish
and Southern Energy and brings together the three coal-fired power stations
in the region, Drax, Ferrybridge and Eggborough. View the full
article.
27 September 2007
New South Wales to Build CCS Plant
The state government of New South Wales have today announced a new $5 million
carbon capture plant to be built on the central coast. The plant aims to pave
the way for a much larger $150 million demonstration project, which could
capture over 50,000 tonness of carbon dioxide per year.
View the full
story.
30 August 2007
Government Publishes Coal Forum Report
The Government have today released a report on the work of the UK Coal Forum
from November 2006 to June 2007. The report emphasises the importance of modern
coal-fired power, with the ability to make a contribution to security of supply,
competitiveness and sustainability. View the full
report.
26 June 2007
Green light for CCS as OSPAR Approves Amendment
The last barrier to the storage of CO2 in the sub-seabed
was today removed as 1992 OSPAR Convention to protect the marine environment
of the North-East Atlantic approved an amendment to allow "all forms
of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in sub-seabed geological formations".
The amendment was led by the UK, Norway and the Netherlands and follows a
similar amendment to the London Convention, which came into force on 1st February
2007. View the full press
release.
22 June 2007
Alstom and Statoil to Test new Capture Technology in Norway
CCSA members Alstom and Statoil have today signed a contract to test new chilled
ammonia technology for CO2 capture designed by Alstom. The technology is particularly
applicable for natural gas combined cycle power plants and will be tested
as a 40MW facility at Statoil's Mongstad refinery in Norway. Initially, the
facility will capture at least 80,000 tones of CO2 per year, with technological
advances leading to development of a larger capture facility able to capture
over 2 million tons of CO2 per year. View the full
article.
June 2007
North Sea Basin Task Force Publishes First Report
The joint UK/Norway North Sea Basin Task Force, set up in November 2005 has
published its first deliverable report on the issues surrounding transport
and storage of CO2 under the North Sea. View the full
report.
For earlier news stories, please visit the news archive here
2008 CCSA © | Last Updated: Dec 2008
