The energy ministers of Canada, China, Norway, and the United States, as well
as heads of delegation from Australia and the European Commission, along with
leaders from the industry and key organisations, were invited by the
International Energy Agency and China to review how to increase collaboration
in order to drive further deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage
(CCUS).
The
meeting was held ahead of the 8th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8), in Beijing.
Ministers and panellists discussed the factors that have attracted investment
to current CCUS projects and highlighted the importance of identifying where
these factors could converge to replicate recent success with CCUS projects.
The
discussion centred on the vital role of CCUS in reducing carbon dioxide
emissions while ensuring energy security. Participants acknowledged the
importance of revenue streams, such as from CO2 utilisation, available
transport and storage options, and political leadership in securing investment
in CCUS projects.
Hosting
the event, Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director, said the IEA would
undertake detailed analysis of the conditions and factors that have led to the
investment in existing CCUS projects, and how they may be replicated elsewhere.
The
countries represented in the discussion host 19 of the 22 projects currently in
operation or construction globally. China, the host of the 8th Clean Energy
Ministerial (CEM 8), recently announced the beginning of construction on the
country's first large-scale CCUS project in Shaanxi Province. The Minister for
Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Wan Gang, co-hosted
the discussion.
U.S.
Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, "I don't believe you can
have a real conversation about clean energy without including CCUS. The United
States understands the importance of this clean technology and its vital role
in the future of energy production."
"We
have already seen the success of projects like Petra Nova in Texas, which is
the world's largest post-combustion carbon-capture system," Mr. Perry said.
"Our experience with CCUS proves that you can do the right thing for the
environment and the economy too."
The
system at Petra Nova can capture 1.6 million tons of CO2 each year from an
existing coal-fired power plant unit, a capture rate of up to 90 percent from a
supplied slipstream of flue gas. By using CO2 captured from the plant, oil
production at West Ranch oilfield is expected to increase from around 500
barrels per day to up to 15,000 barrels per day.
Jim
Carr, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources said: "Carbon capture, use
and storage holds enormous potential to enable economic growth and create jobs,
while ensuring the environment is protected."
"Canada
hopes to continue working with domestic and international partners - including
through the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation - to help us all
address the technical and policy challenges around wide scale implementation of
this important technology," he added.
The IEA
has consistently highlighted the importance of CCUS in low carbon energy
systems. "Our analysis consistently shows that CCUS is a critical part of
a complete clean energy technology portfolio that provides a sustainable path
for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring energy security,"
said Dr Birol.
"Investment
has flowed to CCUS projects where there is a confluence of factors which
constitute a viable business case," said Dr Birol. "We need to find
more such opportunities, where a commercial case for CCS can be built with
reasonably modest, well targeted public interventions."
The
leaders recognized the importance of CCUS technology as an essential tool in
the global effort to achieve deep reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and
prevent global temperature rises in future decades.
Josh
Frydenberg, Australia's Minister for Environment and Energy, could not attend
but sent a written statement that said: "Gas and coal will continue to
play a significant role in both the global energy mix and industrial processes
for the foreseeable future. The Australian Government is taking a
technology-neutral approach to providing an affordable and reliable energy
system as we transition to lower emissions future; and we recognise that carbon
capture and storage has an important role to play. In recognition of
this, last week the Australian Government announced it will broaden the mandate
of the Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to support investment
in CCS technologies."
The
high-level discussion was held ahead of CEM8, a key forum for international
collaboration on clean energy technologies.
"The
CEM is unique in its capacity to consider the full range of clean energy
technology solutions, and to combine efforts through joint initiatives,"
said Dr Birol. "This makes the CEM an excellent forum to advance the role
of CCUS in the global clean energy portfolio and to jointly raise the ambition
level of participating countries in strong coordination with other multilateral
platforms".