The capture and sequestering underground of carbon
dioxide from coal-fired power plants will earn carbon credits under the Kyoto
Protocol, following amendments to the treaty’s main carbon trading
scheme.
A UNFCCC official said approval has been given for so-called
carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects to claim CER credits under Kyoto’s
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Reuters reports.
The process sees
carbon dioxide emissions captured at power plants rather than being emitted to
the atmosphere. They are then piped underground under pressure into empty oil
and gas fields. Emissions of CO2 from the power sector are the biggest source of
greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, from the burning of fossils fuels,
particularly coal.
Jose Miguez, a member of the CDM Executive Board, said
the CDM would be expanded to cover some specific CCS activities in the upcoming
first Kyoto commitment period to 2012. Projects would only be eligible in
developing countries where at least half the nation’s electricity is generated
from burning coal.
CCS technology is still in its infancy with question
marks remaining over whether permanent sequestration can be assured and
environmental concerns over potential leakage. Trials are underway in a number
of countries including Norway, Scotland, Australia and the United States.
The
attraction of the technology lies in the enormous potential storage volumes -
the International Energy Agency estimates that there is enough room in the
world's empty oil and gas fields to store up to 500 years' worth human carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions. But even small-scale trials are proving costly
with a number of projects being cancelled before beginning as initial cost
estimates blow out. Canadian power company SaskPower is the third this year to
shelve plans for a clean coal plant, according to Reuters.
Carbon
market analysts ICECAP said the inclusion of CCS under the CDM would potentially
expand the supply of CERs by 2 or 3 per cent up to 2012.
Reuters
17&19/9/07
Related stories:
CER market
report