National Coal Council Releases New Study for Secretary of Energy
30 January 2015 - 7:06AM
Business Wire
“Fossil Forward – Revitalizing CCS: Bringing
Scale & Speed to CCS Deployment”
The National Coal Council (NCC) today released a new study in
response to a request by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. The
study, entitled “Fossil Forward – Revitalizing CCS: Bringing Scale
& Speed to CCS Deployment,” provides an industry assessment of
the progress made by DOE and others regarding the cost, safety and
technical operation of carbon capture utilization and storage
(CCS/CCUS). It offers recommendations to Secretary Moniz on how to
advance the deployment of CCS/CCUS at commercial scale. The study
was approved by the NCC membership during a webcast meeting on
Thursday, January 29th, 2015.
NCC Chair, Jeff Wallace (Vice President Fuel Services, Southern
Company) noted that “In order to meet U.S. economic, energy and
environmental goals, power generators are being called upon to
enhance the environmental performance of fossil fueled power
plants. For coal, that enhanced environmental performance requires
the application of CCS/CCUS technology. NCC’s Fossil Forward study
addresses critical RD&D and investment needs that must be
addressed to advance CCS/CCUS technologies.”
Discussing the value and timeliness of the NCC study, NCC Coal
Policy Committee Chair, Fred Palmer (Senior Vice President
Government Affairs, Peabody Energy) commented on the valuable role
coal plays in power generation and economic development both
globally and in the U.S. “Cities cannot be built without coal.
Increasing demand for electricity cannot be met without coal.
Energy poverty cannot be eliminated without coal. CCS is the only
large scale technology that can mitigate CO2 emissions from fossil
fuel use for electricity generation and key industrial
sectors.”
In presenting the study to the membership at the January 29th
meeting, NCC Study Chair, Amy Ericson (US Country President,
ALSTOM) summarized the key findings and recommendations by noting
that while DOE is indisputably a world leader in the development of
CCS technology, the DOE CCS/CCUS program has not yet achieved
critical mass. “While there have been some successes, there is a
need for a substantial increase in the number of large-scale
demonstration projects for both capture and storage technologies
before either system approaches commercialization.”
Among the principal recommendations in the study:
- In order to achieve CCS deployment at
commercial scale, policy parity for CCS with other low carbon
technologies and options is required.> Policy parity for CCS in
funding, extending tax credits and other subsidies provided to
renewable energy sources will facilitate creation of a robust CCS
industry in the U.S., benefitting the American people and leading
to the development of lower cost, near zero emission energy
technology.
- Technology and funding incentives must
be significantly better coordinated to be effective.> A plan is
needed to ensure a total of 5-10 GW of CCS/CCUS demonstration
projects are in operation in the U.S. by 2025. Federal incentives,
including feed in tariffs, tax credits, production credits, loan
guarantees and “contracts for difference,” must be reviewed for
their combined adequacy and effectiveness in supporting CCS
deployment.
- DOE program goals need far greater
clarity and alignment with commercial technology and financing
approaches used by industry.> A DOE-industry task force should
be convened to clearly define the role and objectives of individual
projects in achieving broad program goals, to achieve a better
understanding of industry technology and investment goals, and to
prioritize projects in light of limited budgets and the need to
advance CCS technologies to Technology Readiness Level 9.
- Funding for CCS RD&D is limited and
must be enhanced and focused.> While “priming the pump” with
early stage funding for promising technology concepts is important,
budgetary constraints and the need to move more quickly to advance
large-scale CCS projects dictates a need for DOE to cull its
support for technologies that show a clear promise of meeting or
exceeding the Department’s CCS performance goals.
- Public acceptance continues to be a
major hurdle.> There is a need to accelerate DOE’s efforts in
CCS/CCUS public engagement, education and training activities,
especially those targeting counties and states with demonstration
projects and regions with potential infrastructure sites.
- Control of GHG emissions is an
international issue in need of international initiatives.> In
addition to maintaining existing CCS/CCUS international
collaborative efforts, such as the Carbon Sequestration Leadership
Forum (CSLF) and the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center
(CERC), international partnerships in commerce should also be
pursued. Fostering CCS/CCUS demonstrations projects in developing
nations could provide a low-cost means to increase global knowledge
and acceptance of commercial scale CO2 storage.
NCC Executive Vice President & COO, Janet Gellici noted that
the NCC has a long history of studies supporting development and
deployment of CCS/CCUS technologies. “The NCC’s Fossil Forward
study is the 9th report the Council has prepared for the Secretary
on carbon management technologies since the year 2000. We have
consistently supported the use of efficiency enhancements for the
existing coal fleet, the use of DOE-industry-international
partnerships to advance technology RD&D, and the need for
financial incentives especially for first-of-a-kind and early mover
projects.”
The NCC study Technical Study Chair was Carl Bozzuto, ALSTOM
Power. Lead Authors included Holly Krutka, Shenhua Group; Pamela
Tomski, Global CCS Institute; Shannon Angielski, Coal Utilization
Research Council (CURC); and Jeff Phillips, EPRI.
The National Coal Council was chartered in 1984 under the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to advise, inform and make
recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Energy on matters related
to coal policy and technology. Council members are appointed by the
Secretary of Energy and serve at no compensation. A list of Council
members is available from the NCC office at info@NCC1.org or
202-756-4524.
National Coal CouncilJanet Gellici,
202-756-4524jgellici@NCC1.org