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Carbon pricing plan called key to coal pollution
The key to developing technology to store coal plants’ pollution underground is charging them for the carbon dioxide they release into the air, a US presidential task force says.
The experimental technique is aimed at reducing pollution blamed for
contributing to global warming.
In a report released Thursday, the task force says that without a price
for carbon pollution, there is no framework for investing in the
underground storage technology, known as carbon capture and storage or
CCS.
According to the report, coal-fired power plants are the largest
contributor to US greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the Obama
administration is making a big push for “clean coal.” The Energy
Department is funding demonstration projects with $4 billion in federal
funds, matched by more than $7 billion in private investments.
Senate Democrats were forced to shelve plans for climate legislation
last month because they couldn’t get enough Republicans to support it.
The Republicans assailed the bill as a “national energy tax” and jobs
killer, arguing that the costs would be passed on to consumers in the
form of higher electricity bills and fuel costs.
PresidentBarack Obama created the task force in February, charging it
with coming up with a plan to overcome barriers to widespread,
cost-effective deployment of carbon storage technology within 10 years
with a goal of bringing five to 10 commercial demonstration projects
online by 2016.
A big issue hanging over the developing technology is liability costs if
something goes wrong. A sudden release of large amounts of carbon
dioxide can kill by asphyxiation. In 1986, 1,700 people died when a
cloud of carbon dioxide escaped from a volcanic lake in Cameroon.
The report offers several options to address the liability issue for
carbon storage facilities: limits on claims; an industry-financed trust
fund to pay damages after a site is closed; transfer of liability to the
federal government following a site closure; or maintaining the current
legal framework.
Despite questions about the technology, the report says there are no
insurmountable barriers. But early projects do face “first-of-a-kind
technology risks” and high costs, the report says.
It calls on federal agencies to help by coming up with rules governing
such projects.
Source: Times of India
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