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Climate Rules Needed for Carbon Capture to Be Viable, U.S. Says
2010-08-12 17:59:51.999 GMT
By Jim Snyder
Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Climate-change legislation to force
reductions in greenhouse gases is a necessary ingredient to the
widespread deployment of a process to store carbon pollution
from coal plants, a U.S. task force said today in a report.
High costs, a lack of clear regulations and uncertainty
about legal liability must be resolved for carbon capture to be
widely deployed, according to the report released by 14 federal
agencies.
"The lack of comprehensive climate-change legislation is
the key barrier" to carbon capture and sequestration, according
to the report's executive summary. "Without a carbon price and
appropriate financial incentives for new technologies, there is
no stable framework for investment in low-carbon technologies."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has
abandoned efforts to pass legislation that would cut carbon-
dioxide emissions, through a cap-and-trade system, after failing
to find 60 votes needed to advance the measure.
The task force created by President Barack Obama in
February included 14 agencies led by the Energy Department and
Environmental Protection Agency. The group was directed to
develop a plan for "widespread, cost-effective deployment" of
carbon capture within 10 years, according to the report.
Lack of financial incentives and concern companies will be
liable when carbon dioxide is released during transit are among
obstacles to carbon-capture programs, according to the task
force. Carbon dioxide in large amounts can led to death from
asphyxiation.
The U.S. may need to limit certain claims, create an
industry-backed trust fund to pay future damages or take on the
liability after a site is closed, according to the report.
'Work Together'
"Federal and state agencies must work together to enhance
regulatory and technical capacity for safe and effective"
deployment of carbon capture and storage, the report states.
The Energy Department is supporting up to 10 carbon capture
and sequestration projects that may be operating by 2016, using
$3.4 billion from the economic stimulus package.
The department has found that there are hundreds to
thousands of years of storage potential in geologic formations
in North America.
For Related News and Information:
Top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
Carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
Top renewable-energy stories: GREEN <GO>
Top business and government news: GBIZ <GO>
--Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jim Snyder in Washington at +1-202-624-1972 or
jsnyder24@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net.
