Global Challenges and Cross Cutting Issues in CO2 Capture and Storage

1
Global Challenges and Cross Cutting Issues in
CO2 Capture and Storage

• Saroja Asthana
• National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
• sr.asthana_at_ncl.res.in

2
Introduction

• Greenhouse Gases are mainly responsible for
  climate change
• Main source of GHG fossil fuel
• IEA established RD in 1991

3
Introduction Contd

• Research now focuses on
• Identification of gaps in knowledge in
• technical aspects vis-a-vis
• non-technical aspects of CCS
• The objective is to propose practical
  recommendations.

4
Introduction Contd

• Technical issues are related to practicability
  and availability of resources.
• Non technical issues are basically
• Legal, Economical and Social.
• Paper attempts mainly to discuss cross cutting
  issues on non technical issues.

5
Legal issues

• Main gaps appear in relation to the domestic laws
  of countries.
• Example Clarification required on several
  provisions in the marine protection treaties
• Another issue is the pre requisites for
  site-selection and long-term monitoring for
  storage of CO2.

6
Economic Social issues

• Apparently no major economic barrier although it
  appears that the first model uses low values for
  the costs of CCS.
• Social and acceptability issues are mainly
  related to the awareness and the outlook of
  stakeholders such as NGOs.

7
Global Treaties
As there are global issues associated with CSS,
it is important to see it in prospective of
global treaties.
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The London Convention 1972

• Purpose is to control the input of substances
  into the sea.
• It administers a blacklist of substances, the
  dumping of which is prohibited, and a reverse
  list containing substances which may be
  conditionally dumped under strict control.

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The London Convention 1972 contd
Dumping is defined as any deliberate disposal at
sea of wastes or other matter from vessels,
aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures
at sea, but does not include placement for a
purpose other than the mere disposal thereof,
provided that such placement is not contrary to
the aims of the Convention.
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Issues of London Convention

• CO2 is not specifically mentioned in either the
  blacklist (Annex 1) or reverse list but suggested
  to be classified as an industrial waste.
• This is ambiguous and can be interpreted
  differently.

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Issues of London Convention Contd

• Issue here is to find whether CO2 is under
  industrial waste or not ?
• Secondly, does CCS apply to Convention?
• What is definition of Sea?

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Issues of London Convention Contd

• Disposal is not well defined but can be
  interpreted as the action of permanently getting
  rid of a substance.
• So, long-term storage of CO2 for the purpose of
  mitigating climate change does amount to disposal
  or not is not clear.

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The London Protocol 1996

• In the London Convention (1996) dumping reads
  as any storage of wastes or other matter in the
  seabed and the subsoil thereof from vessels,
  aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures
  at sea
• It expressly covers the seabed and subsoil

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The London Protocol 1996 Contd

• Sea dumping does not include pipeline discharges
  from land, operational discharges from vessels or
  offshore installations or placement.
• Apart from this, The London Protocol appears to
  prohibit the storage of CO2 both in the water
  column and in sub-seabed repositories

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The OSPAR Convention 1992

• The Convention is established by 15 Northern
  European Member States and the European Community
  
• the most comprehensive and strict legal framework
  governing the marine environment
• All possible steps are taken by the Convention

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Inclusion of CCS in the Climate Policy Context

• International efforts by
• UNFCCC
• sustainable management of GHG thru
• sinks and reservoirs
• The Kyoto Protocol
• need of more research
• IPCC
• Special Report on CCS (2005)
• CSLF

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IPCC (2005) Special Report on CSS

• Discussion on CSS held at COP11/MOP1 in Montreal.
  It was decided to hold a workshop on the issue.
• The CDM neither restricts nor encourages CCS and
  suggests that it must be evaluated as any other
  mitigation approach.

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Mitigation Costs

• As mitigation cost is an economic indicator it
  should be seen in totality.
• It is costs to avoid a tonne of CO2 entering the
  atmosphere.
• Increase in cost of electricity due to CSS should
  be considered.
• Also, it needs to be compared with other
  mitigation options.

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Stakeholder Perceptions to CCS
Based on initial (Lee et al, 2004) focus groups
conducted in 2001, the CO2 Capture Project (CCP)
concluded that NGOs in general have a negative
outlook on the issue, as they believe that CO2
storage will extend the usage of fossil fuels and
divert resources from the development of
renewable energy
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Stakeholder Perceptions to CCS contd
On the other hand, CCP argued that some NGOs were
developing a more positive opinion on CSS,
realizing that a transition phase is likely to be
needed before renewable energy can become more
cost-effective and widely implemented.
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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS

• The issue is whether CCS is really a bridging
  option to sustainable energy.
• It depends on storage capacities and their
  proximity to point sources of CO2.
• The extent of mitigation is also a topic of
  debate
• Nuclear energy and renewable energy technologies
  that are low-carbon technologies are implicit
  competitor to CCS

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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd

• There are practical difficulties in geological
  storage as mapping techniques like seismic data
  collection and interpretation may not be
  effective in many areas due to a number of
  technical reasons.
• There are several gaps in IPCC Special Report on
  CCS (IPCC, 2005) and number of IEA studies (IEA,
  2004 IEA, 2006)

23
Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd

• DS models use low values for the costs of CCS,
  which might result in an overestimation of the
  role of CCS in the mitigation.
• The capital required upfront for investments in
  capture is large. This may tend to keep
  industries from deployment of CCS projects.
• The use of CDM is still a regulatory gap.

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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd

• Developing-country Parties in the climate
  negotiations are increasingly opposed against CCS
  in the CDM.
• Whereas fossil-fuel dependent developing
  countries view CCS as a natural option under the
  CDM

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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd

• CCS is not ready for market-based deployment,
  technology should be developed and tested in
  industrialized countries first, and only after
  that be implemented in developing countries.
• CCS will overwhelm the CDM market. However, CDM
  market will prefer CCS.

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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd
The G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany in June
2007 set out that to accelerate development and
deployment of CCS, it is of utmost importance to
prioritize national and international RD efforts
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Cross-cutting Issues of CCS Contd

• Global risks are linked to the possible escape of
  CO2 into the atmosphere from the geological
  storage reservoir, thereby counteracting the
  point of the storage exercise.
• Further, action is needed to prevent and quantify
  the fugitive emissions that evolve over time.

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Summary

• Incentives are needed due to weak market
  availability.
• Legal and regulatory frameworks needs to be set.
• The G8 focus on CCS adds a political imperative
  which is good for CSS deployment
• Public awareness should be raised.

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Summary Contd

• Clear responsibility for short and long-term
  liability and rewards to the initiative taker
  should be defined.
• Resource assessment for sources, sinks and
  infrastructure requirements and RD technology
  advances through public/private partnerships are
  important.

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Thank you