Brussels, 30/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - The parliamentary debate on the proposed directive aiming to give the EU a legal framework to encourage the capture and geological storage of carbon (CSC) is maturing. The text was debated for the second time by the Parliamentary committee on the environment on 24 June, on the basis of the draft report by Chris Davies (ALDE, UK), and the cut-off date for amendments has been set at 8 July. However, in the view of the rapporteur himself, the members of the committee do not entirely share his enthusiasm for a technology he would like to see paid for out of a system of double credit (basic funding and rights to allocations of credits negotiable on the carbon market for each tonne of carbon stored, as part of the emissions quotas trading system), and made obligatory between now and 2020 to give it chance to take off in the EU, by means of a premium for "pioneer installations". This, he feels, is the best way to encourage what is currently an interim technology, but one which will be vital as long as coal-fired power stations are needed to cover a proportion of energy requirements (EUROPE 9656).
"My goal is to reach a consensus as quickly as possible. We have made a certain amount of progress in the environment committee, but many MEPs voiced uncertainties regarding the risks related to this technology, and feel that we are going too quickly and that it is too early for binding objectives", Chris Davies told a small group of journalists at a "technical briefing" held with representatives of the electricity industry, after the parliamentary work. Although the MEP is convinced that the deployment of this technology must be speeded up, this is also because, he feels, it is "essential if we are to have a chance of reaching a post-2012 climate agreement with China, India and the United States". These three countries have 850 coal-fired power stations between them, and "unless they are included, it is difficult to see how we can effectively tackle the problems of CO2 emissions", he noted. In support of these political arguments, John Krenicki, Director-General of GE Energy, one of the key players in the sector of renewable energy, nuclear and clean coal, used technical arguments to back up the views of the rapporteur.
Mr Krenicki believes that "the time is ripe to set in place electricity plants equipped" [to separate CO2 from the fossil fuels, transported and storage: Ed]. "The technology is there. IGCC (integrated gasification combined-cycle) technology has existed for more than 15 years. It needs to be adapted to electricity plants", he explained. The recent announcement, on 28 May, of the carbon sequestration alliance concluded between GE and Schlumberger bears witness to the conviction of both companies of the importance of moving forward CSC, using GE's IGCC systems and Schlumberger's expertise in the field of geological storage, and its capacity in terms of selecting, characterising and qualifying sites. "There are no technical obstacles. The technology is available, why not use this technology in electricity production?", asked Mr Krenicki, who "urges the EU to build pipelines to scale cleaner coal in a big way". Incentives and "a policy of public authorities in favour of cleaner coal" are, he feels, of vital importance, because "the time needed to build is considerable". In the view of Chris Davies, the two main issues in question are safety and technical feasibility. On safety, the fears that CO2 buried 2 km underground could return to the surface is purely theoretical, as "10 years of experience in Norway has shown no CO2 migration outside the limits". "The most important thing is to ensure that strict controls are in place". As for feasibility, in order to be ready in 2015, it is important that the right resources are allocated. (A.N./transl. fl)