The Rundown – Studies Show Carbon Capture Promise, Benefits
Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending July 27. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
STUDIES SHOW PROMISE, BENEFITS OF CARBON CAPTURE
ClearPath, Carbon Utilization Research Council and Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. released two studies underscoring the promise and benefits of aggressively developing and commercializing U.S.-based carbon capture, storage and utilization technologies.
The key findings from “Making Carbon a Commodity: the Potential of Carbon Capture RD&D” sponsored by CURC and ClearPath – with support from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the United Mine Workers of America – uses modeling conducted by NERA Economic Consulting and Advanced Resources International to forecast market-driven deployment of up to 87 gigawatts with carbon capture technologies over the next two decades.
Under an aggressive RD&D scenario, the development generated multiple direct and indirect benefits:
Up to a 40% increase in domestic coal production for power from 2020 to 2040;
100 to 923 million barrels of additional domestic oil produced annually by 2040;
270,000 to 780,000 new jobs associated with enhanced oil recovery field operations by 2040;
Reduction in the national retail cost of electricity 1.1% to 2.0% by 2040.
Importantly, the study found these benefits over the next two decades would be lower under less aggressive RD&D scenarios. With less aggressive rates of RD&D, the analysis found significantly less deployment of carbon capture technology by 2040.
Realizing the benefits in the real world will depend on a number of policy outcomes, including:
Public-private partnerships spanning across the entire RD&D cycle
A more aggressive commitment for the Department of Energy’s Carbon Capture and Power Systems program
Inclusion of carbon capture retrofits under the New Source Review program and other streamlined rules for carbon dioxide pipelines
Favorable IRS interpretation of the revamped 45Q carbon capture tax credit
CURC and EPRI also released the 2018 Advanced Fossil Energy Technology Roadmap that identifies technologies that can be available by the 2025-2035 timeframe that generate electricity from fossil fuels with significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions that could be cost competitive with other sources of electricity generation.
This is the fifth Roadmap that CURC and EPRI have published since 2003. The 2018 Roadmap is a departure from prior Roadmaps published by CURC and EPRI as it includes new data on recent advances in technology for not just coal, but also natural gas in electric power generation.
HOUSE APPROVES NATIONAL SECURITY MICRO REACTOR REVIEW
House lawmakers included bipartisan language in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act led by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) to require the secretary of energy to report on the feasibility of siting, constructing and operating “micro reactors” at critical Defense Department or Energy Department national security facilities.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee forwarded to the full Senate several senior Department of Energy nominations: Christopher Fall to be director of the Office of Science, Dan Simmons to be assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, Karen Evans to be assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response and Teri Donaldson to be inspector general.
President Trump signed into law bills that would extend the deadline for construction of five hydroelectric dams in Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, representing 37.5 MW of zero-emission power. The bills gives FERC authority to extend the deadline for construction to begin up to six years and reinstate each project’s construction license if it expires.
