If carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) is to reach its full potential, a suite of policies and financing programmes will be required to underpin the business case for the technology, according to the report Climate Action Now: Summary for Policymakers 2015, issued by the United National Climate Change Secretariat in November.

Specifically, given the high costs involved in CCUS, substantial public funding is needed to implement large-scale demonstration projects and begin deployment, particularly in developing countries, the report said. In addition, investments in research, development and demonstration programmes are needed to build CCS/CCUS expertise and stimulate the sharing of knowledge.

Furthermore, the report found that imposing a sufficiently high price on carbon — whether through an emissions trading scheme or carbon taxes — is important for creating an economic incentive for emitters to pursue CCUS. For example, coal-fired power plants using CCS technology require CO₂ prices of between EUR 45-102/t (USD 48 and USD 109/t) to be cost-competitive with traditional coal-fired plants.

The Summary for Policymakers details best practice climate policies from across the world in an effort to help policymakers learn from existing initiatives which can help them cut emissions before 2020. The report features a wide range of examples of initiatives from around the world in six key areas: renewable energy, energy efficiency, transport, land use, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and controlling non- CO₂ greenhouse gases.

For more information:

http://climateaction2020.unfccc.int/media/1173/21789-spm-unfccc-lowres.pdf