New Capacity Building Program Will Assist Member Nations in Implementing CCS Demonstrations and Commercial Deployment, CSLF Says

October 13, 2009

London, UK—A new Capacity Building Program will assist the 24 members of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) in implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstrations and help accelerate commercial deployment, the organization said at its Third Ministerial Meeting in London this week.

The Program will assist all CSLF members in developing the “information, tools, skills, expertise and institutions required to implement CCS demonstrations and then move rapidly into commercial operation,” the Program Plan’s Mission Statement says.

CSLF is a Ministerial-Level international climate change initiative marshalling worldwide resources to develop improved, cost-effective technologies for the separation, capture, transport, and long-term storage of CO2 from power plant and industrial facilities. CCS is a group of technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas, emitted by power plants or industrial facilities and safely injecting it deep underground into suitable, permanent geologic storage sites. It is increasingly viewed by international experts as an essential part of a portfolio of responses by the world to effective management and reduction of human-based CO2 emissions.

Noting it pioneered capacity building on “CCS technology and on policy, legal, and socio- economic issues for emerging economies,” CSLF said the Capacity Building Program will address the fact that CCS is “new and the capacity to widely implement it is not yet adequate in either emerging or industrialized economies.”

The Program Plan said while specific needs vary by nation, four basic tasks are required to implement CCS:

  • Identifying and characterizing CO2 sources and potential reservoirs, and then “matching sources to potential reservoirs;”
  • Analyzing and formulating policy and legal/regulatory frameworks;
  • Conducting pre-feasibility, feasibility, and regulatory studies to evaluate and support decisions about proposed projects; and,
  • Implementing projects through planning, financing, construction, operation, and monitoring.

“Capacity must be built in order to create the understanding and carry out each of these tasks,” the organization said, and consists of: information and tools to define, evaluate, and realize CCS opportunities; skills and expertise to plan, implement and regulate CCS; and public and private institutions, including CO2 emitting and service industries, financial institutions, government agencies, and academic/research institutions.

Four capacity building program initiatives will “accelerate the deployment of CCS,” CSLF said: (1) disseminating practical information; building capacity in emerging economies; (3) assisting activities by government and regulatory agencies; and (4) the building of academic and research institutions for CCS. “Implementation will require an ongoing effort to facilitate these activities,” the Program Plan said, including CSLF member commitments of adequate resources.

The Program Plan said “greater levels of funding than previously committed” are needed to support the new initiative, and anticipates expenditures of $5 million (U.S.) annually for the remaining four years of the CSLF term. The effort will be led by the Capacity Building Task Force of the CSLF Policy Group, with the Secretariat providing administrative support. Ongoing coordination will take place both within and external to CSLF, and various task forces of both the Policy and Technical Groups will be involved.

CSLF membership includes nations in every stage of development, united in seeking practical and constructive ways of dealing with concerns about CO2 and climate change. Forum membership spans the world's largest blocs of economic activity, including the North America Free Trade Area, the European Union and the leading economies of Asia. Members are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, the European Commission, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Tags
Press Release