By: Jem Cooper

Jem Cooper — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:01:41 +0000

I remember when we were trying to get lead out of petrol everyone said it would be very expensive if not impossible. Then along came a tax incentive of a few pence per litre and it all happened painlessly. Carbon capture is the same. I am not involved in the design or operation of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) but recent reports from the World Future Energy Summit http://cleantech.com/news/5532/carbon-capture-and-storage-rebooting say that “speakers pointed to the maturation of CCS and many successful pilot facilities around the world. And they set the expectation that the industry is now ready to see production facilities built in large numbers.” Carbon capture is not new technology. We have been capturing carbon dioxide on an industrial scale from the partial oxidation of coal, oil and gas for many decades in the chemical industry. We have been reinjecting carbon dioxide down the well to enhance oil recovery for many years. The IPCC say the same in their report on carbon capture. To be sure the capture and storage technology have not yet been put together and used on a large power generation plant. Process selection, cost estimates and performance will no doubt improve as we gain design, construction and operational experience, but that does not mean there is any likelihood of the technology not working. What is lacking is not the know-how but the economic incentive to apply it, except to demonstrate the technology. In a recent Times Online live debate see http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/12/live-debate-after-copenhagen-where-to-now-for-the-climate-debate.html 85% voted that "Fossil fuel companies should be obliged to sequester an increasing fraction of the carbon content of the products they sell to avoid dangerous climate change". For details on why this proposal would be easier for all countries to agree to than cap and trade or a carbon tax, how it would encourage energy saving, renewables and nuclear, how it would be implemented and how it would stop global warming, see my website at http://jemsavestheplanet.blogspot.com/

Comments on: The Government’s energy policy is in deep trouble

By: Jem Cooper