Idea of the Day: Carbon Capture and Storage

August 27, 2009

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Carbon Capture and Storage, or CCS, is the most promising technique to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants. ACESA provides $60 billion for CCS demonstration projects for coal plants. This should include research and demonstration projects for carbon capture in natural gas plants and coal plants co-fired with at least 10-percent biomass, as well as coal-fired power plants.

The Senate energy bill should also modify definitions associated with carbon capture and storage to remove technology bias. This includes shifting from a focus on “underground” sequestration to the support of “permanent” sequestration strategies that may include surface storage of CO2 in solid mineral form, as well as deep-well injection of CO2 gas.

Because the potential to reduce U.S. carbon emissions is much greater in the existing fleet of power plants than in new ones, any climate policy should ensure that CCS research and deployment efforts focus attention on retrofits of existing plants with carbon capture in addition to developing and deploying new integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants.

For more on this topic see:

• Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century, by John Podesta and Timothy E. Wirth.