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Research And Markets: Carbon Capture And Storage May Be Key To Meeting Global Emissions Targets
DUBLIN — Research and Markets ( http://www.researcha…/carbon_capture ) has announced the addition of the “Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for Coal-Fired Plants – Opportunity Assessment and Key Country Analysis to 2025” report to their offering. Although currently negligible in prominence, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) could be the technology that makes the world’s carbon emission reduction targets achievable, say energy experts The authors, in their latest report. As the report* explains, carbon storage techniques, such as enhanced oil recovery, have been used in the energy sector for decades, but only recently has the concept of long term carbon storage been viewed as a viable means of reducing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere from power plants. Correspondingly, a modest 238 megawatts (MW) of CCS capacity was installed globally at the end of 2011, but according to current government plans and other initiatives, a far more substantial 10 gigawatts (GW) is expected to come online by the end of the decade. CCS refers to the technology of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before or after the combustion of fossil fuels (gas or coal), transporting it and pumping it into underground geological formations. This process prevents large quantities of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere by securely storing it between impermeable rock or similar material. China, the US, Australia, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK have invested heavily in CCS Research and Development (R&D) activities and are the global leaders in the industry; however, there are currently no large-scale CCS demonstration projects active for coal-fired plants. Governments around the world are showing a lack of commitment in significantly reducing fossil fuel consumption, and so CCS could prove the most realistic answer to one of the greatest predicaments of our time. However, The authors’s report states that this technology must be employed much more widely in order for CCS to make the level of impact its potential suggests. This report provides the retrofit potential and new market potential for the global CCS market in terms of revenues and capacity. It also discusses the key drivers and restraints impacting the market. Companies Mentioned Alstom Chevron ConocoPhilipps E.ON Vattenfall Statoil ENEL Siemens RWE Japan CCS Company The Co-operative Research Centre for Greenhouse Technologies For more information visit http://www.researcha…/carbon_capture About Research and Markets Research and Markets is the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Read more here: http://www.heraldonl…l#storylink=cpy Continue reading
Backloading Is A Temporary Fix, The Emissions Trading Scheme Needs Bolder Reform
Policy Exchange’s Simon Moore makes the case for ambitious carbon market reform based on a demanding 2035 emissions cap By Simon Moore, Policy Exchange 19 Jun 2013 Later today the European Parliament’s Environment Committee will attempt to fix Europe’s flagship decarbonisation policy, the beleaguered Emissions Trading System. The proposal will see some permits (permission to emit a tonne of carbon) withdrawn temporarily from the carbon market. If this sounds familiar, it is because it tried exactly the same thing in April, only to be voted down by the full parliament. The committee has made a few tweaks, but the premise remains unchanged. Unfortunately, the premise is a political fudge masquerading as an important intervention. It tries to prop up the carbon price in the short term without addressing fundamental weaknesses of the current cap-and-trade system. The EU would be better served by turning its attention to fixing the long-term problems afflicting the ETS. If it fails to do so, then the backbone of Europe’s climate policy will remain fractured and Europe will have shown it is not serious about tackling climate change. Getting carbon pricing policy right is an important way to stop pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The current scientific consensus argues for cuts in carbon emissions to mitigate risks from dangerous climate change. But many potential responses to climate change are expensive. Only a system that can identify the cheapest low carbon technologies can help keep those costs as low as possible. The ETS, which is designed to cap carbon emissions and then allow technologies to compete, should deliver such an outcome. Like all markets, it may lead to surprising and innovative outcomes. But it should find the cheapest way to a low carbon economy. As long it achieves the carbon cuts expected of it, does it matter whether it is achieved by better insulated homes, new nuclear power stations or wind turbines? And the cheaper the cost of decarbonisation, the more likely it is that the effort is politically sustainable and that other countries, notably the US and China, will follow Europe’s example. In a report we launched this morning, Policy Exchange calls on the EU to radically strengthen the ETS. That means setting an ambitious, carbon target that stretches out to 2035 giving investors clear, long-term direction. It also entails ditching the expensive renewable energy targets that have added unnecessary costs to European energy bills. Moreover, it means establishing a system that can respond to major changes in the economic, political or scientific circumstances. The slack under the current ETS cap has led to the current price having collapsed to €4/tonne, compared to about €20 just three years ago. The “business as usual” case used to set the cap turned out to be highly inaccurate in the wake of the financial crisis. Without any straightforward means of tightening the cap, Europe has resorted to the current highly politicised process for intervention. Recommendations stumble back and forth between the European Commission, Parliament and its committees. Each time it is lurches in a different direction, its political credibility is damaged. As a result, even coal, the most polluting of power sources, is having a mini-renaissance. Our report argues that an independent agency, modelled along the UK’s Committee on Climate Change is imperative if we are to avoid the current chaos. The body would make firm recommendations on when politicians should intervene (with politicians still making the final decisions). It should be set up with clearly defined rules and on a set timetable. Intervention would only be necessary if: macroeconomic circumstances changed significantly (as in the global financial crisis); if progress on an international deal failed (or was more ambitious than expected); or if the climate science changed. Crucially, such a body would not intervene just because the price was lower or higher than expected. If you want a market system, you have to trust the price signal. So long as emissions are being cut sufficiently, low prices should be celebrated. Such an agency would be better placed to navigate between the need to retain stability, giving longer-term investment signals and ensuring that decisions taken about its ambition keeps pace with world events. The EU is now contemplating a package of climate policies for 2030, with separate carbon reduction and renewables targets. The consultation, out only a few weeks ago, suggests a 40 per cent carbon reduction target and a 30 per cent renewable energy target. The Commission should be more ambitious on carbon and ditch the distraction of the renewable target. However, unless it fixes the ETS and trusts market processes to deliver the low carbon economy, all the political posturing in the world will not hide Europe’s empty words. Simon Moore is an environment and energy research fellow at Policy Exchange Continue reading
China Launches World’s No.2 Carbon Trading Market
June 18, 2013 China’s cities won’t get early pollution relief from carbon trading. Photo: Getty China’s plan to set up markets to trade emissions will make it second only to Europe in efforts to put a price on pumping carbon into the atmosphere. For cities choking on the nation’s smog, expect little relief. Seven pilot carbon-trading programs are scheduled to start this year, with the first opening today in Shenzhen, followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei. They are set to regulate 800 million to 1 billion tons of emissions by 2015 in the world’s biggest cap-and-trade program after Europe’s, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. China’s National Development and Reform Commission will oversee emission exchanges in a country that the World Bank says has 16 of the world’s most-polluted 20 cities. The commission is better known for setting prices than creating open markets, said Stuart Cerne, managing director at Hong Kong-based environmental business consultant Enecore Carbon. “The NDRC’s measure of success of the pilots is primarily focused on technical aspects of setting up the system, whilst the importance of an active trading environment has not been given as much importance,” Cerne said by telephone. “Because of unresolved design and regulatory issues, I don’t expect that there will be real trading in the pilots other than annual compliance and government influenced transactions.” The seven pilots agreed to regulate emissions using a cap and trade system, with companies that produce more than their allocation buying permits from companies that emit less. Shenzhen’s trading will take place on a purpose-built exchange. Forward step WWF-Australia welcomed the start of the Shenzhen trading as proof that China is stepping up efforts to tackle global warming. “China is already leading the way globally in the deployment of renewable energy and today took the first steps towards a national price and limit on carbon pollution,” Will McGoldrick, Climate Change National Manager at WWF-Australia, said. “China’s Shenzhen region will be joining 35 countries and 13 states, provinces and cities in putting a price on carbon,” Mr McGoldrick said. “If Australia scraps the carbon price it would be the first country to go backwards a move clearly at odds with where the rest of the world is moving.” Shanghai clearinghouse Shanghai’s carbon exchange plans to reduce the supply of carbon permits when prices are low and sell more when they are high “to maintain relatively stable levels,” NDRC Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua, said in an April speech on climate legislation. Xie is China’s lead climate negotiator. Regulations governing transactions in Shenzhen are still being worked on and aren’t expected to be released by the start of trading, according to a presentation by the city. Shenzhen, one of China’s Special Economic Zones designed to promote market policies, will initially include 635 companies in its cap-and-trade program, Mayor Qin Xu said in April. Those companies discharged 31.7 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2010, 38 percent of the city’s total, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A separate program to complement cap-and-trade in China was a proposed carbon tax that would be paid by consumers at the pump and on utility bills. With economic growth slowing to 7.7 percent in the first quarter, the carbon tax was put on hold after opposition from businesses and local governments. Taxing issue The tax won’t be introduced this year amid “obvious opposition,” Jia Kang, head of research at the Ministry of Finance, said at parliament’s annual session in March. Kang quoted an initial levy of 5 yuan to 10 yuan (86 cents to $1.72). Starting at that level is too low to make an impact or even meet official targets, according to research from Tsinghua University and China’s Central Compilation & Translation Bureau. The effect may be further muted since the government already sets prices for gasoline and electricity that are below market rates. The goal of the trial markets is to provide know-how to establish a national trading platform, so getting the pilot programs right is important for the political will to tackle pollution in the future, said Cerne at Enecore Carbon, which has offices in Beijing. EU assistance The European Commission, the EU regulator, signed a 25 million euro ($35 million) financing agreement in September 2012 to help set up China’s pilot emissions program. “This is an important step for an ever-closer cooperation towards a robust international carbon market and low-carbon development,” Isaac Valero-Ladron, climate spokesman for the European Commission, said in an e-mail. “This is a huge opportunity to modernize our economies, stimulate growth and create jobs in new dynamic industries with innovative technologies and clean energy.” While China’s western provinces lag behind the east in terms of wealth and development, emission trading has the potential to stifle growth, said Ge Xing’an, vice president at the Shenzhen Emissions Exchange. Trading may find less political support in poorer areas looking to attract investment. “While Shenzhen and Shanghai will meet deadlines, a place like Chongqing might lag behind,” Ge said. “While that’s not a major problem in the pilot phase, it may become a concern for the national plan.” Non-compliance The penalties for non-compliance with the new emissions program may be too low to pose a real threat, according to the Center for Clean Air Policy Europe Director Tomas Wyns, who consulted on Hubei’s carbon market design. If profits outweigh the cost of flouting the law, companies have no incentive to reduce pollution. Concern of official corruption is also on the minds of regulators. “We set up electronic systems to assign quotas to the industries,” Wu Delin, vice secretary general for the Shenzhen Municipal Government, said at a press conference in March. “This can help prevent illegal behavior of officials during the assigning of quotas.” Beijing’s worst-recorded air pollution earlier this year renewed pressure on the government, which aims to cut carbon emissions by as much as 45 percent before 2020. China’s emissions from energy use rose 6 percent last year to 27 percent of the world’s total, according to statistics published June 12 by BP Plc. That pace is less than 9 percent last year and is the lowest increase since 2008. Establishing carbon trading in China will be a herculean task given that the country’s markets are still immature, Jeff Huang, co-chair of the China working group at the International Emissions Trading Association, said in a telephone interview. China faces “a unique challenge internationalizing and upgrading their commodity markets overall, while at the same time launching a new market for carbon, something you can’t see or touch,” Huang said. Bloomberg , with Fairfax Media . Read more: http://www.theage.co…l#ixzz2WZpx2sjN Continue reading
