This guide by the IEA for policy makers aims to assist those involved in designing national and international policy related to carbon capture and storage (CCS). Covering both conventional fossil‐fuel CCS and bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), it explores development of CCS from its early pilot and demonstration project stages through to wide‐scale deployment of the technology. The report concentrates on the economic and political economy perspective, leaving legal, safety, environmental and regulatory issues to be addressed by other analysis.

Amine technology is a well-established method of removing CO₂ from natural gas within the oil and gas industry. In order to assess its application to CO₂ capture (in CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) technology), the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) formed a Working Group led by the R&D Vice Chair and representing the broad coalition of ZEP members – European utilities, oil and gas companies, equipment suppliers, research institutes and environmental NGOs. Its brief: to identify any HSE impacts from the emission into the atmosphere of substances resulting from the use of amine-based solvents. The result: a report that aims to provide a solid, factual background to this issue, while identifying any aspects requiring further investigation.

The materials roadmap presented in this European Commission document complements and expands the technology roadmaps developed in the context of the SET-Plan as the basis for its implementation. It puts forward key materials research and innovation activities to advance energy technologies, including CCS, for the next 10 years. It serves as a programmatic guide for research and development activities in the field of materials for energy applications for both the European Union’s research and innovation programme and Member State programmes.

ZEP has issued a statement welcoming the European Commission’s EU Energy Roadmap 2050, which underlines the need for CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) to be applied to power generation from both coal and gas-fired power plants and heavy industry. ZEP emphasised that this objective can only be met if the EU and Member States provide the necessary support to ensure CCS is demonstrated at industrial scale well before 2020, as part of the ongoing EU CCS demonstration programme.

On 15 December the European Commission adopted its Energy Roadmap for 2050, which "seeks to develop a long-term European technology-neutral framework in which [national energy] policies will be more effective". It argues that "a European approach to the energy challenge will increase security and solidarity and lower costs compared to parallel national schemes by providing a wider and flexible market for new products and services."

The roadmap outlines that "for all fossil fuels, CCS will have to be applied from around 2030 onwards in the power sector in order to reach the decarbonisation targets. CCS is also an important option for decarbonisation of several heavy industries and combined with biomass could deliver "carbon negative" values. The future of CCS crucially depends on public acceptance and adequate carbon prices; it needs to be sufficiently demonstrated on a large scale and investment in the technology ensured in this decade, and then deployed from 2020, in order to be feasible for widespread use by 2030."

The CCS CDM Modalities and Procedures (M&Ps) were formally adopted by the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Durban, South Africa, on December 9, 2011. The final adopted text represents a significant development for CCS in developing countries given CCS projects can now benefit from a CDM revenue stream. CCS is now part of a portfolio of low-carbon technologies to receive carbon finance, which should help facilitate its inclusion in other UN funding mechanisms. In addition the M&Ps have now satisfactorily addressed the concerns of developing countries and the CCS CDM ‘rules’ will set precedence for the regulation of CCS under other funding mechanisms.

Ahead of the COP17/CMP7 2011 climate talks in Durban, South Africa, ZEP has released a statement highlighting the issues related to CCS that must be addressed to help speed up global widespread deployment of the technology:

1.    Knowledge transfer of CCS technology: The global deployment of CCS can be accelerated using knowledge sharing frameworks, such as the one developed by ZEP in 2009 at the request of the European Commission. This work can help ensure greater qualitative stakeholder involvement in the UNFCCC’s Technology Mechanism in order to help Non-Annex I countries deploy CCS.
2.    The UNFCCC Green Climate Fund should recognise CCS and provide for its funding as a crucial abatement option.
3.    CCS in CDM: The modalities and procedures proposed for CCS projects under the CDM should be adopted, thereby creating the rules and procedures to enable the permanent storage of CO₂ also in Non-Annex I countries.
4.    Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) should recognise CCS positively and appropriately.

Equipment-supplier Alstom has launched a detailed study of its 13 pilot and demonstration projects with Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) which shows that the electricity costs from CCS-equipped coal-fired power plants will be competitive with electricity generated from renewable sources.

This paper focuses on the electric power generation industry, and examines the costs of different technologies that are expected to play a part in reducing carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. The Global CCS Institute has been tracking and reporting on the latest cost studies of various CCS technologies for the past two years. Together with recent studies into other low-carbon technologies, current cost estimates for a range of low-carbon technologies are compared including CCS, wind, nuclear, and solar thermal and solar photovoltaics.

The key findings are:

•    CCS is a competitive power sector emissions abatement tool when compared to other low-carbon technologies.
•    Hydropower and onshore wind technologies are among the least-cost technologies identified for reducing emissions from the power sector.
•    Once these relatively low-cost technologies options are fully exploited – because of limits in their availability – or in countries where these technologies are not an option, CCS becomes a very competitive option.
•    The cost of mitigating, or avoiding, CO₂ emissions for a coal power plant fitted with current CCS technology ranges from US$23-92 per tonne of CO₂ and is a little higher for natural gas fuelled power plants. This is compared to an avoided cost of US$90-176/tonne for offshore wind, US$139-201/tonne for solar thermal, and even more for solar PV.
•    It is important to note that the costs of new technologies that have not yet reached full maturity, such as CCS amongst others, will become lower in the future.
•    These findings are in line with International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that identify that without CCS, abatement costs in the electricity sector could be higher by more than 70 per cent.

The 2009 IEA publication Technology Roadmap: Carbon Capture and Storage recommends that international legal obstacles associated with global CCS deployment be removed by 2012 - including the prohibition on transboundary CO₂ transfer under the London Protocol, an international marine treaty controlling marine pollution and dumping of wastes and other matter in the sea.

The London Protocol was amended by contracting parties in 2009 to allow for cross-border transportation of CO₂ for sub-seabed storage, but the amendment must be ratified by two-thirds of contracting parties to enter into force. It is unlikely that this will occur in the near term.

This working paper therefore outlines options that may be available to contracting parties under international law to address the barrier to deployment presented by Article 6, pending formal entry into force of the 2009 amendment.