PNNL

Abstract

Recent progress in decarbonization processes and engineered storage systems for CO2, together with preliminary cost estimates for these technologies, indicate that capture and storage of CO2 will have a major role to play in achieving deep reductions in emissions. These technologies hold the potential to reduce the cost of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases, the ultimate objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). Their value rises as the allowable level of cumulative carbon emissions declines. The value of these technologies is robust regardless of whether the world's economically recoverable oil and gas resources are eventually found to be large or small. This paper considers the economic implication of those advances in the context of long-term, global climate change mitigation strategies. This indicates the need for a broad, robust research and development strategy to reduce the cost of separating CO2 and to make accessible the widest range of storage reservoirs. It is also important to demonstrate excellent security of storage, in order to win public acceptance of the use of capture and storage techniques.