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In the absence of a price for carbon set either by the introduction of a tax or via a cap-and-trade system wide scale implementation of CCS technology will depend on a market for CO2 as an input.
Hence the new focus on CC"U"S – where the “U” is for utilization. The most promising utilization of anthropogenic CO2 is for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations, but new and expanded uses look promising in the concrete, food, and biofuels sectors.
Even with the development of a robust market for carbon dioxide it is unlikely that the price will be sufficient to cover the cost of capture and transportation. Unless, of course, the cost of effective capture and transport at a commercial scale can be significantly reduced.
Fortunately, this is where innovation and good old human creativity in problem solving comes in. The array of new low-energy capture technologies (for example: low-temperature solid sorbents, and super- enzymes) that are currently being researched, and in many cases undergoing small scale testing is impressive. These, in addition to continuing research and refinement of more common processes, are sure to drive down the cost of capture.
However, even with a reduced cost for capture and transportation it is likely that some sort of penalty for release to atmosphere may be necessary. But with the market offset this penalty could be far less and still be effective. This coupled with a stronger disincentive on the use of already stored natural CO2, and solid public awareness programs on the benefits of CCUS, will go a long way to realizing a much greater implementation of carbon capture technology.
IPAC-CO2 participated in the 2012 Trinidad and Tobago Regional Energy Conference from 6 to 8 February. Peter Wyant, Chief Development Officer, gave a presentation on “Building a Business Case for CCS”, and Majid Nasehi, Director, Research and Project Management, gave a workshop on the development of geologic storage standards for CO2. Both presentations were well received.
Trinidad and Tobago is the second largest emitter of CO2 (per capita) in the world. The government of Trinidad and Tobago is developing a CO2 reduction strategy and they are looking at CCS as a technology to assist in emission reductions and to attract new investments into the country.
As part of the strategy, the government is looking at the development of standards for carbon capture, transportation, usage, and storage.
The country has been experiencing continuing annual production reductions from their mature gas and oil reservoirs and the use of CO2 to advance EOR (CO2-EOR) is also an attractive option for them since it can improve their oil and gas as well as reduce their CO2 footprint.
The government of Trinidad and Tobago recognizes the fact that it is very important for the country to be CCS-ready as it will also open the doors to many opportunities in the international market.
Regina, Feb. 8, 2012 -- Public awareness and acceptance of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a tool to combat climate change is higher in Saskatchewan and Alberta than the rest of Canada, concludes a national survey released today by IPAC-CO2 Research Inc.
“Effective communication underlies the ability to engage in discussion on how we can sustainably and responsibly meet our future energy needs” said Dr. Carmen Dybwad, CEO of IPAC-CO2.
“The information found in the national Public Awareness Survey provides the much needed understanding to initiate and nurture the communication with Canadians on our options for reducing Green House Gas emissions.”
The survey of 1,548 Canadians commissioned by IPAC-CO2, with support from Carbon Management Canada, was conducted by Insightrix Research, Inc. between Sept. 27 and Oct. 28. 2011. The online Canadian poll parallels the Eurobarometer survey of 13,000 individuals in 12 European countries.
CCS, a key tool in combating climate change, involves extracting carbon dioxide during the process of power generation or from heavy industrial operations such as steel mills or cement plants, compressing it and storing the CO2 permanently in depleted oil or gas fields or saline aquifers.
“Comparing the awareness in the different provinces, the study shows a higher level of awareness in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where only one in four (25%) and one in three (36%) people, respectively, have not heard of CCS; compared to British Columbia and Manitoba, where more than half of the people (53%) do not know what CCS is; and the rest of Canada with an estimate of 3 in 5 people (60%) who have never heard about CCS,” Dybwad said.
Canadians and Europeans agree on the effectiveness of CCS as a method to combat climate change. Dybwad noted that “about the same proportion of respondents in Canada and Europe believe that CCS would be very (7% and 6% respectively) or fairly (35% in Canada; 33% in Europe) effective in fighting climate change."
“However, the proportion who are unsure of its effectiveness is considerably higher in Europe (36%) compared to Canada (24%), likely related to the very different knowledge levels in the two areas.”
The national survey shows that Canadians and Europeans also share many beliefs about the future of CCS. About the same proportion of Canadians believe fossil fuels will still be used for electricity production after the year 2050 (51% in Canada; 49% in Europe); that CCS will ensure lower and more stable energy prices (29% in Canada; 28% in Europe), and help combat climate change (49% in Canada; 47% in Europe).
One in six Canadians believe that they are very well informed about the causes (13%), consequences (13%) and ways in which we can fight climate change (12%).The majority of respondents in each of these categories believe that they are fairly aware of these issues (58%, 59%, and 55%, respectively).
Canadians agree that the most trusted sources of information about CCS are Scientists and Researchers (73%) followed by Non-governmental organizations (45%). The federal and provincial governments stand out as the least trusted sources (13% and 11%, respectively).
These results contrast with the European study, which indicate that Scientists and Researchers are less trusted by Europeans (35%), and NGO’s are trusted by less than one third of the population (31%).
The margin of error within the online population surveyed is +/- 3.4 percentage points at 95% confidence.
Click here to download the Executive Summary.
Click here to download the Public Awareness and Acceptance of CCS in Canada Survey.
For more information, please contact:
Joe Ralko, ABC
Director of Communications
IPAC-CO2 Research Inc.
1.306.206.0127
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
As part of IPAC-CO2's marketing plan, a new Services, Products and Projects Brochure has been developed.
The brochure outlines many of the Services, Products and Projects which IPAC-CO2 Research Inc. has or will complete on a fee for service basis.
An example of what is contained in this document would include our Range of Services.
IPAC-CO2's Range of Services includes:
This document is updated on a quarterly basis.
Download the new 2012 Products, Projects and Services Brochure today!
By Dr. Carmen Dybwad
At the opening of a recent Global CCS Institute event in Washington Deborah Lyons, the Deputy Head of Mission at the Canadian Embassy, made it very clear that the world needs to build more, and better, bridges between its energy needs and the need for environmental protection. She was also very clear that Carbon Capture and Storage is a principal tool in building at least one very important bridge: that being the bridge to a carbon responsible future.
Yet that said the future for large scale CCS projects is still uncertain. The number of projects being considered has slowed, or depending on one’s point of view, stalled, and there is much that needs to be done to revive the momentum. The same list of usual hurdles keeps surfacing: financing, public support, supportive legislation, the costs of the technology, and even a couple of new ones such as the low price and abundance of natural gas. None of these are insurmountable, but they do need a certain amount of resiliency and resolve in order to clear them.
Is it worth the effort? Yes it is. It is difficult to imagine a future, at least the foreseeable kind, where coal does not figure into the world’s energy diet. Given this the future for electricity production will depend on advanced coal technologies that include CCS – at least according to recent comments made by Hal Quinn, President & CEO of the US National Mining Association at the 8th Annual USEA State of the Energy Industry Forum. This view is supported by 60% of Canadians who, when asked in a recent IPAC-CO2 survey, agreed that “capturing and storing CO2 should be compulsory when building a new coal-fired power plant”.
Call me an optimist but I think this is just an artificial lull and that the future really is bright – good news indeed.
The national survey of 1,548 Canadians commissioned by IPAC-CO2, with support from Carbon Management Canada, conducted by Insightrix Research, Inc. will be released on February 8th, 2012.
The online Canadian poll parallels the Eurobarometer's report on CCS awareness of 13,000 individuals sampled in 12 European countries.
The survey compares public awareness and acceptance of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) across Canada. IPAC-CO2 was established to meet the needs of the public, as well as industry and regulators. The information gained by the national survey will allow IPAC-CO2 to continue to meet the needs of the public. The nation survey is an important component of IPAC-CO2's project to develop educational material on CCS for public use.
This is the second survey on public awareness and acceptance of CCS developed by IPAC-CO2. The first survey focused only on attitudes towards climate change and carbon capture and storage in the province of Saskatchewan.
IPAC-CO2's Public Awareness and Acceptance of CCS in Saskatchewan survey is available for download.
The Executive Summary and Final Report of the survey on Public Awareness and Acceptance of CCS in Canada will be available on our website on February 8th
For physical copies of either survey, please contact:
Joe Ralko, Director of Communications
IPAC-CO2 Research Inc.
+1.306.539.9270
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For more information about these surveys click here.
The largest professional networking and education event of its kind in the United States will be held next week in Phoenix, Arizona, and IPAC-CO2 will be there.
By 2020, Europe will only have 6 of the 12 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) demonstrations plants that are supposed to be fully functional in 2015.
IPAC-CO2 Research Inc. has been invited to facilitate a workshop on Carbon Capture and Sequestration at the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012.
The purpose of the workshop is to provide an overview of the world’s first set of standards for geologic storage of carbon dioxide, developed by IPAC-CO2 in collaboration with CSA Standards Inc. The standards have been developed by an international Technical Committe from the United States and Canada. The workshop will outline the the scope and structure of the standards in depth.
The survey of 1,104 Saskatchewan individuals commissioned by IPAC-CO2 was conducted by Insightrix Research, Inc. between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.
By A Web Design