PNNL

Abstract

Successful deployment of carbon capture and disposal technologies will require a thorough understanding of not only the technical risks and benefits, but also the social acceptability and policy implications of such technologies. There are a variety of approaches for evaluating the technical and economic performance of carbon capture and disposal technologies, such as geologic sequestration, but relatively few that also effectively incorporate the social and policy factors that will affect the deployment of these technologies. We present a framework that integrates knowledge about the technical performance of geological sequestration with economic considerations and public acceptability and policy formulation issues. The utility of an integrated framework is in developing a holistic understanding of the potential impacts and challenges associated with such projects, as well as in identifying opportunities for further investments. In addition, the framework supplies an ntellectual construct that employs this knowledge so that stakeholders can understand the totality of this technology and make informed tradeoffs about the deployment of deep geologic carbon disposal in their community or region.