Carbon Capture and Storage Association

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Global warming.jpg This article is part of the Climate project of Spinwatch.

The CCSA is the trade association for the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry. It was launched in March 2006 to represent the interests of its members in promoting CCS 'as a means of abating atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide and, potentially, as a means of enhancing the production of fossil hydrocarbons'.[1]

According to its website as of November 2009 'the Association benefits from a close working relationship with the UK Government and European Commission in developing an appropriate regulatory framework for CCS and influencing policy developments on an international level.'[2]

Government support

CCS is the technology spearheading the UK government's 'clean coal' policy which is a centrepiece of the UK climate change strategy. They argue that Britain has a responsibility to develop this technology in order to transfer it to China and other high coal using nations. It is also argued that fossil fuel usage is necessary for energy security[3]. The creation of the CCS Association was 'welcomed by government', according to its website.[4]

According to an article for Greenwise News:

In April [2009], the UK Government announced that all new combustion power stations over 300 MW in England and Wales will have to be designed ‘carbon capture ready’. It also undertook to deliver up to four demonstration projects using the technology, which has yet to be proven to work on a commercial scale.[5]

On 12 November 2009 Scottish and Southern Energy, (in collaboration with Doosan Babcock, announced plans to build the biggest CCS trial in Britain. The £21 million trial at Ferrybridge coal-fired power station, near Castleford in Yorkshire will start in 2010 and, according to the Greenwise News article, is welcomed by the government.[6]

Critique

A Greenpeace report entitled 'False Hope: Why carbon capture and storage won’t save the climate 2008'[7], criticises the UK governments policy on CCS as a climate change strategy on the grounds that CCS is an end-of-pipe technology which is not sufficiently developed to be useful in time to make significant cuts to carbon emissions. Further, the promotion of CCS has been used as an argument for new coal fired power stations which will increase emissions considerably (with or without CCS). It is also noted that burying the captured carbon is expensive (raising energy costs), energy consuming in itself, risky, and potentially ineffective, with considerable leakage back to the atmosphere. [8]

For a more comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness and implications of Carbon Capture technology see Corporate Watch's 'Technofixes Report'.[9]

Events

The CCSA are sponsoring China's first clean coal forum (the 6th Annual Clean Energy Forum-Clean Coal 2010 entitled 'Call for Global Clean Coal Action') on January 27th-29th in Tianjin, China. The event will focus on coal-gasification technology and claims in its publicity to signify a broader clean coal technology portfolio "which would arouse tremendous resound from the policy makers, clean coal industry players and investors" [10]. The forum is also sponsored by IEA Clean Coal Centre, National Reform and Development Commission Energy Research Institute and Clean Air Task Force.

People

David Green and Pamela Rudolph both also work with the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy based in the same building (Grosvenor Gardens House), suggesting a revolving door with potential conflicts of interest.

Funding

Members

CCSA members are from the Oil and Gas, coal mining, law, development, manufacture, transport and banking sectors. The full list according to their website:[12]

Air Products | Aker Clean Carbon | Allen & Overy | Alstom | AMEC | Anthony Veder | Arup | BG Group | BP | BOC | British Geological Survey | Calix | Camco | Chevron | Clean Energy Systems | Climate Change Capital | CMS | CO2 DeepStore | Coal Authority | ConocoPhillips | Corus | Denbury Resources | DNV | Doosan Babcock | Drax Power | East of England Development Agency | EDF Energy | EON | ERM | ESB | Fluor | GDF Suez | General Electric Int | Herbert Smith | Howden Group | HTC Purenergy | Hydrogen Energy | Ingen | Linklaters | Lloyd's Register | Lovells LLP | Maersk Oil & Gas | Marathon Oil | Masdar | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) | Mitsubishi Corporation | MMI Engineering | MPA Cement | National Grid | National Physical Laboratory | Nexen Exploration | Norton Rose | PowerFuel | Poyry Energy Consulting | Progressive Energy | PWC | Reliance Industries Limited | Renew | Rhead Group | Rio Tinto | RPS Group | RWE | Sasol | Schlumberger | Scottish & Southern | Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage | Scottish Enterprise | Scottish Power | Senergy | Shell | Siemens | SLR Consulting Ireland | IM Skaugen | StatoilHydro | Total Holdings | Tullow oil | Yorkshire Forward | Zurich [13]

Affiliations

Contact

The Carbon Capture & Storage Association Suites 142-152 4th Floor, Grosvenor Gardens House 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W 0BS

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7821 0528 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7828 0310

email: info@ccsassociation.org

Resources

Notes

  1. CCSA What We Do, Accessed 28/11/09
  2. CCSA What We Do, Accessed 28/11/09
  3. POSTNOTE, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. March 2005. 'CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS)'
  4. CCSA What We Do, Accessed 28/11/09
  5. Elaine Brass, 'SSE announce plans for UK’s biggest CCS trial' Greenwise News. 12th November 2009
  6. Elaine Brass, 'SSE announce plans for UK’s biggest CCS trial' Greenwise News. 12th November 2009
  7. Greenpeace-reports 2008 False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage won't Save the Planet, Accessed 28/11/09
  8. Greenpeace-reports 2008 False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage won't Save the Planet, Accessed 28/11/09
  9. Claire Fauset, 2008 'Techno-fixes: a critical guide to climate change technologies' Accessed 14/01/10
  10. CCSA Forthcoming Events Accessed 14/01/10
  11. CCSA About CCSA, Staff, Accessed 28/11/09
  12. CCSA Our members, Accessed 28/11/09
  13. CCSA Our members, Accessed 28/11/09

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