CSLF Press Conference Statement

Mark Maddox

Chairman

CSLF Policy Group

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy

Office of Fossil Energy U.S. Department of Energy

Berlin, Germany

September 28, 2005 (As delivered)

Thank you Minister Adamowitsch for your introduction and your remarks.

On behalf of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, I want publicly to thank you, the participating staff, the Ministry and the Government of Germany for so generously hosting these interministerial executive meetings of the Policy and Technical groups.

I also want to acknowledge the presence of Deputy Director General for Energy Hartmut Schneider, whose cooperation was complete in arranging for the successful conduct of these meetings.

And, I want to thank you of the press for joining us.

I must advise you that Vice Chairman Sergio Garribba, of Italy, who was to take part in this press conference, regrettably will be unable to attend.

When the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum was organized two years ago, there were numerous expressions of skepticism in commentary about carbon dioxide capture and storage as something almost approaching science day-dreaming, if not science fiction.

Today, after study, these concepts are widely recognized as feasible and a matter of applied technology.

This week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has put the final touches on a Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. It finds that these technologies can make significant contributions to stabilization and significantly lower the costs of all nations in achieving stabilization.

This report will be presented this fall to the 11th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Now the Forum -- itself an international partnership – is being designated by other international partnerships as the agent of cooperation and collaboration between and among the developed, transitional and developing nations in the accelerated development and deployment of technology to curtail greenhouse gases.

Among these are:

• The Mainz Declaration on energy security, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions between the United States and Germany;

• The U.S.-E.U. Summit's joint statement of intentions on Energy Security, Economic Growth and Environment;

• The G-8 Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development;

• And, numerous bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements, including the recent Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, which involves six CSLF members. 

It's also noteworthy that the European Commission has elevated the technologies of carbon dioxide capture and storage to the top tier of research priorities, and also sponsors some of the most ambitions CSLF demonstrations.

Until now CSLF has labored quietly and out of sight at the basic level of marshalling, sorting and organizing the resources and knowledge needed to win recognition and accelerate development.

Soon, however, the world will be hearing more and more about carbon dioxide capture and storage.

And so, we have asked the press here today to offer a briefing on our purpose and an update on our progress.

In essence this first press conference marks our formal coming of age.

We of the Forum will leave it to our nations' diplomats to settle the terms on which the world will seek stabilization of greenhouse gases in this century.

Our job is to deliver technologies that will contribute significantly to stabilization, and in this responsibility we are moving forward at a strong and steady pace.

Our goals include:

• Accelerating development and deployment of low-cost capture and storage;
• Establishing a framework of law, regulation, practices and institutions that nations can consult to ensure safe, long-term storage;
• And, achieving full international recognition of capture and storage as an effective way of dealing with greenhouse gases.

It's against this background that the Policy and Technical Groups meet here this week to prepare items of business for the next Ministerial Meeting.

Last year the Ministers endorsed:

• A technology roadmap that sees commercial deployment beginning at, or shortly after, 2014;
• A comprehensive report on matters of governance entitled "Considerations on Regulatory Issues for Carbon Capture and Storage Projects";
• And 10 research, demonstration and development projects – five dealing mostly with the technologies of CO₂ capture and five with the important questions of storage, including measuring, monitoring and verification.

This week our executive preparation for ministerial action includes:

• Addition of South Korea and Saudi Arabia to membership;
• Policy Group task force reports on public outreach, financial issues and criteria for new members;
• Technical Group task force reports on gaps in knowledge to be filled by research;
• And, eight additional projects, including two each in China and India, the first direct involvement key developing countries with greenhouse gases.

In addition, CSLF members are eligible to participate as partners in FutureGen, the coal-based U.S. project to create the prototype of a no-emissions energy center for the 21st century. It will produce electric power and low-carbon or hydrogen fuel while capturing and storing the carbon dioxide which such production releases.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Bodman last month sent to each of his member-country counterparts a formal invitation to participate.

To date, much of the Forum's hardest work has been done by member representatives from other nations and under the guidance of my co-chairmen.

Co-chairman Garribba was unable to be here, as I noted earlier.

But Co-chairman John Ryan of Australia has joined us.

In addition, John recently was selected to be the next chairman of the International Energy Agency's Governing Board.

John will speak now, after which the three of us will take questions.