CCS VIABLE?

Carbon-Capture Projects Are Viable at $50 a Ton, Stern Says
Alex Morales, January 19, 2009 (Bloomberg)

“Permits to release a ton of carbon dioxide into the sky need to cost about $50 each, or three times Europe’s current price, for companies to invest in experimental technology to trap the greenhouse gas, Nicholas Stern said.

“Projects that capture and safely bury CO2 underground must be developed to play a role in controlling global emissions of the global-warming gas during the next 20 to 30 years, the London School of Economics professor said…

“Power-plant operators, scientists and economists worldwide are investigating the unproven technology to determine whether it could safely and economically store the greenhouse gas below ground…"

CCS: Capturing gas with a net. (click to enlarge

“Under European laws that set emissions limits and carbon trading rules, industrial polluters are required to own permits to release each ton of CO2 they produce. European emissions permits for 2009 currently trade at about 12 euros ($15.) At that price it would be cheaper for a coal-burning plant to buy an allowance than invest in devices to bury CO2, the main global-warming gas…

“Carbon capture and storage will be vital to the United Nation’s goal to halve global emissions by 2050, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency…Stern backs a mix of renewable energy technologies as well as carbon capture…

“The 27-nation European Union plans to subsidize as many as 12 demonstration plants for carbon capture to test the feasibility of catching emissions from power plants and pumping them underground.”