With fossil fuel consumption expected to rise in the coming decade, CCS is seen as an increasingly vital technology to ensure greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming do not spiral out of control.

In a New Year statement the IEA says that a “significant deployment of CCS” must be seen during the 2020s to avoid breaking the 2°C warming target on pre-industrial levels.

“For the IEA, carbon capture and storage is not a substitute, but a necessary addition to other low-carbon energy technologies and energy efficiency improvements,” Juho Lipponen, head of the IEA Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Unit said.

“Fossil-fuel CCS is particularly important in a world that currently shows absolutely no sign of scaling down its fossil fuel consumption.”

Oil, gas and coal met 81% of global energy consumption in 2009, and 85% of the increase in global demand over the last decade.

This shows little sign of dipping, and the rate of investment in new coal power stations is a particular concern for many analysts, with India and China opening around three new plants every week.

Without any abatement the levels of CO2 these will produce could render efforts to cut global emissions hopeless.

The latest Climate Action Tracker report underlines these concerns, revealing that given current energy policies the world is currently on path for warming of 3°C by 2040, 1°C above the level scientists believe is safe.

Source: by Ed Kind, RTCC, Last updated on 8 January 2013, 4:10 pm

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