C
Captain Compassion
Guest
TECHNOLOGY TO CUT CO2 NOT SEEN BEFORE 2020
Reuters, 3 May 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0173164120070503
By Tom Bergin
LONDON (Reuters) - Clean energy technologies that could dramatically
cut carbon emissions are unlikely to be widely adopted before 2020,
and even then only if western governments offer big financial
incentives at home and abroad.
Most scientists believe man-made CO2 emissions, largely caused by
burning hydrocarbons, are the primary cause of climate change in the
half century
A draft report by the United Nations climate panel is expected to this
week again call on nations to cut their CO2 emissions to avoid a
climate catastrophe.
However, even the greenest developed nations are struggling to curb
rises in CO2 production and emissions from developing nations like
China and India are rocketing, as their booming economies require more
and more energy.
New technologies are seen as the only way for mankind to cut CO2
emissions to acceptable levels, and still enjoy a decent standard of
living.
Many scientists believe CO2 capture and storage (CCS) -- burying CO2
in underground reservoirs -- is the most politically acceptable,
technologically feasible and economically viable way to make big CO2
cuts, followed by advanced biofuels.
Steve Koonin, scientist at oil major BP, said these technologies could
realistically allow developed nations to reduce CO2 emissions from
around 2015 and developing countries to cut from between 2030 and
2040.
However, government-sponsored financial incentives would be needed, he
added. BP itself has applied for government help to build a CCS and
power generation plant in Scotland.
CARBON CAPTURE
Around 40 percent of man-made CO2 emissions are caused by electricity
generation, so scientists say it is key to focus on this source.
While some environmentalists advocate wind power, its capacity to
replace coal and gas-fired power plants is limited by the intermittent
nature of gusts and a shortage of suitable sites.
Solar and wave technology require unforeseen technological
breakthroughs before they could play anything more than a tiny role in
meeting power needs.
Nuclear could make a big impact but high build cost, long construction
lead time and public hostility, mean even replacing existing plants is
a struggle.
CCS, which involves storing CO2 in depleted offshore oil fields or in
aquifers, porous rock beneath the seabed, is seen as offering a
realistic prospect of material CO2 cuts.
"We've got several hundred years of storage for the whole European
Union in the saltwater aquifers in the North Sea," Professor Stuart
Haszeldine, Professor of geology at the University of Edinburgh, said.
The UK has promised a one-off subsidy that could help bring the first
commercial-scale power generation and CCS facility online in 2011 or
2012.
The EU plans 12 CCS projects by 2015, and wants the technology to be
installed in all new EU power plants after 2020, Haszeldine said,
adding he does not expect more than a handful of projects to be
operating globally before 2020.
However, firm frameworks of long-term incentives must be in place
before companies will invest in CCS technology on a large scale.
Incentives could involve charges for emitting CO2 or rewards for
storing it. Both strategies would inevitably lead to higher taxes or
higher energy bills.
This may be tolerable in western countries, but developing nations are
not keen to limit their growth with such measures.
"I keep asking the question who's going to pay for CCS in China and
India, given their other development needs, and nobody's got any
credible answer except 'the developed countries'," Koonin said.
SECOND-GENERATION BIOFUELS
Road, rail and air transport fuels account for around 20 percent of
global emissions, making this another key focus.
Biofuels -- transport fuels made from crops -- have been touted as the
solution and the EU has said it hopes that by 2030, biofuels will
account for 25 percent of transport fuels.
However, biofuels do not always cut CO2 use. Environmental groups have
said forests are being cleared in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia to
make way for plantations that will produce palm oil, a key feedstock
in some biofuels.
Also, inefficient production methods mean a liter of fossil fuel is
sometimes consumed in the production and distribution of a liter of
biofuel, Professor Nick Syred, UK representative on a panel which
advises the EU on implementing measures to cut CO2 emissions, said.
A new generation of biofuels is needed to yield big CO2 cuts, Syred
said. The aim is for biodiesel and gasoline substitute ethanol, to be
produced from non-food crops and waste biomass. This would allow fuel
to be produced with much less land and energy than is needed for
current generation fuels.
Western oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are
sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into second generation
biofuels such as cellullosic ethanol, but only test production
facilities have been built so far.
Analysts do not expect large-scale manufacturing until 2020 at the
earliest.
"These technologies can deliver but it's not going to be a quick fix
.... coal and oil are simply too cheap," Syred said.
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
Reuters, 3 May 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0173164120070503
By Tom Bergin
LONDON (Reuters) - Clean energy technologies that could dramatically
cut carbon emissions are unlikely to be widely adopted before 2020,
and even then only if western governments offer big financial
incentives at home and abroad.
Most scientists believe man-made CO2 emissions, largely caused by
burning hydrocarbons, are the primary cause of climate change in the
half century
A draft report by the United Nations climate panel is expected to this
week again call on nations to cut their CO2 emissions to avoid a
climate catastrophe.
However, even the greenest developed nations are struggling to curb
rises in CO2 production and emissions from developing nations like
China and India are rocketing, as their booming economies require more
and more energy.
New technologies are seen as the only way for mankind to cut CO2
emissions to acceptable levels, and still enjoy a decent standard of
living.
Many scientists believe CO2 capture and storage (CCS) -- burying CO2
in underground reservoirs -- is the most politically acceptable,
technologically feasible and economically viable way to make big CO2
cuts, followed by advanced biofuels.
Steve Koonin, scientist at oil major BP, said these technologies could
realistically allow developed nations to reduce CO2 emissions from
around 2015 and developing countries to cut from between 2030 and
2040.
However, government-sponsored financial incentives would be needed, he
added. BP itself has applied for government help to build a CCS and
power generation plant in Scotland.
CARBON CAPTURE
Around 40 percent of man-made CO2 emissions are caused by electricity
generation, so scientists say it is key to focus on this source.
While some environmentalists advocate wind power, its capacity to
replace coal and gas-fired power plants is limited by the intermittent
nature of gusts and a shortage of suitable sites.
Solar and wave technology require unforeseen technological
breakthroughs before they could play anything more than a tiny role in
meeting power needs.
Nuclear could make a big impact but high build cost, long construction
lead time and public hostility, mean even replacing existing plants is
a struggle.
CCS, which involves storing CO2 in depleted offshore oil fields or in
aquifers, porous rock beneath the seabed, is seen as offering a
realistic prospect of material CO2 cuts.
"We've got several hundred years of storage for the whole European
Union in the saltwater aquifers in the North Sea," Professor Stuart
Haszeldine, Professor of geology at the University of Edinburgh, said.
The UK has promised a one-off subsidy that could help bring the first
commercial-scale power generation and CCS facility online in 2011 or
2012.
The EU plans 12 CCS projects by 2015, and wants the technology to be
installed in all new EU power plants after 2020, Haszeldine said,
adding he does not expect more than a handful of projects to be
operating globally before 2020.
However, firm frameworks of long-term incentives must be in place
before companies will invest in CCS technology on a large scale.
Incentives could involve charges for emitting CO2 or rewards for
storing it. Both strategies would inevitably lead to higher taxes or
higher energy bills.
This may be tolerable in western countries, but developing nations are
not keen to limit their growth with such measures.
"I keep asking the question who's going to pay for CCS in China and
India, given their other development needs, and nobody's got any
credible answer except 'the developed countries'," Koonin said.
SECOND-GENERATION BIOFUELS
Road, rail and air transport fuels account for around 20 percent of
global emissions, making this another key focus.
Biofuels -- transport fuels made from crops -- have been touted as the
solution and the EU has said it hopes that by 2030, biofuels will
account for 25 percent of transport fuels.
However, biofuels do not always cut CO2 use. Environmental groups have
said forests are being cleared in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia to
make way for plantations that will produce palm oil, a key feedstock
in some biofuels.
Also, inefficient production methods mean a liter of fossil fuel is
sometimes consumed in the production and distribution of a liter of
biofuel, Professor Nick Syred, UK representative on a panel which
advises the EU on implementing measures to cut CO2 emissions, said.
A new generation of biofuels is needed to yield big CO2 cuts, Syred
said. The aim is for biodiesel and gasoline substitute ethanol, to be
produced from non-food crops and waste biomass. This would allow fuel
to be produced with much less land and energy than is needed for
current generation fuels.
Western oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are
sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into second generation
biofuels such as cellullosic ethanol, but only test production
facilities have been built so far.
Analysts do not expect large-scale manufacturing until 2020 at the
earliest.
"These technologies can deliver but it's not going to be a quick fix
.... coal and oil are simply too cheap," Syred said.
--
There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling
the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their
cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.
Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not
on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away
with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone
are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices
me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net
