Please see our Newsletter for a full round-up of all the week's news.

19 February 2010
UN launches CCS roadmap project
The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the GCCSI have announced a new joint project to develop a technology roadmap for CCS. The €500,000 project will be completed by the end of 2010, and aims to inform policymakers and investors about the potential of CCS and the practical milestones that need to be achieved to realise that potential. View the press release.

3 February 2010
US announces CCS task force
President Obama has announced the creation of an Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage, which will develop a comprehensive and coordinated federal strategy to speed the development and deployment of clean coal technologies. The President calls for five to ten commercial demonstration projects to be operational by 2016. To achieve this, the Task Force aims to develop within 180 days a plan to overcome the barriers to the deployment of widespread affordable CCS within 10 years. View the press release.

2 February 2010
One North East publishes CCS prospectus
One North East has published an ambitious prospectus for the development of CCS in the North East of England. The document identifies the region’s strengths and future plans for CCS, including the potential for a cluster of projects to be established by 2015, and highlights the potential for major investment and job creation in the region. View the full story.

2 February 2010
EU agrees NER split
An agreement has been reached on how to disperse the 300 million allowances set aside from the New Entrants Reserve of the EU ETS to fund CCS and innovative renewable projects. The vote that took place on Tuesday was seen by many as the last chance to secure a deal on the issue. View the full story.

20 January 2010
Five CCS projects share $29m in Victoria
Five CCS projects in Victoria, Australia, are to share up to $29 million in funding as part of the Victorian Government’s $110 million Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) fund. The funding includes:
- $19 million towards the development of a multi-user CO2 transport and storage system. The system is being developed by a consortium of Carbon Store Australia, TRUenergy and Mitsubishi Corporation;
- Up to $3.5 million to investigate the feasibility of building a small-scale plant at an existing brown coal power station that would capture and mineralise CO2 into materials to be used in the building industry. The project is being developed by Calera;
- Up to $2 million to investigate the feasibility of a large-scale, gasification, pre-combustion CO2 capture project being developed by TRUenergy and Southern Company;
- Up to $3.5 million to investigate the feasibility of a pre-combustion capture project being developed by HRL; and
- Up to $1 million to investigate the feasibility of a retro-fitted large-scale, post-combustion carbon capture plant at Loy Yang A Power Station being developed by Loy Yang Power, Mitsubishi and TRUenergy.
View the press release.

13 January 2010
US DOE publishes CCS communications manual
The US Department of Energy’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships programme has published a new manual entitled Best Practices for Public Outreach and Education for Carbon Storage Projects. The recommendations are based on lesson learned during the first six years of the partnerships programme and are intended to provide guidance on designing and conducting effective public outreach activities. View the press release.

11 January 2010
Total inaugurates Lacq project
Total has inaugurated Europe’s first full chain CCS demonstration project at Lacq, in France. The €60 million facility uses oxyfuel combustion technology to capture CO2, that is then transported 27 km from the Lacq plant to Rousse where it is injected into a depleted natural gas reservoir 4,500m below ground. Around 120,000 tonnes of CO2 will be captured and stored over the next two years. View the press release.

21 December 2009
Copenhagen conference comes to a close
The annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen has ended, without commitments to legally binding cuts in emissions, but with some countries agreeing to a ‘Copenhagen Accord’. The Accord recognises the view that an increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius is required to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Developed countries will commit to emissions targets from 2020, to be listed in the accord by 31 January 2010. Developing countries will also list their pledges by the same date and communicate their efforts to limit emissions every two years. The Copenhagen Green Climate Fund will be established to provide up to $30 billion of support for developing countries over the next three years. Developed countries also agreed to support a goal of jointly mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs to developing countries. View the press release.

18 December 2009
Basin Electric selects Doosan Babcock and HTC Purenergy for FEED studies
Basin Electric has selected Doosan Babcock and HTC Purenergy to carry out a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study to evaluate the feasibility for adding CCS equipment to the Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, North Dakota. The study will focus on the costs and engineering of retrofitting capture equipment to one of the plant’s two, 450 MW units. It’s anticipated the retrofit would capture the equivalent of a 120MW slipstream from exhaust gases. View the press release.

18 December 2009
Draft text on distribution of EU funding sent to Member States
A draft text, on how to distribute the 300 million EUAs set aside from the New Entrants Reserve for CCS and innovative renewables, has been sent to Member States by the European Commission. The draft text proposes two rounds of calls for proposals, with 200 million allowances available for the first tranche and the remainder for the second. It is proposed that Member States will assess whether a project meets the eligibility criteria and if they will support the project. The Member State would then submit the project proposal to the European Investment Bank and inform the Commission. The Commission will make the final decision over which projects receive funding. Member States are due to vote on the text in February. View the full story.

17 December 2009
Air Products and US DOE sign agreement
Air Products has signed a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy and will now begin phase one of a project to capture CO2 and use it in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) work. The full project proposes to capture CO2 from Air Products’ steam methane reformers at a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and then transport it via pipeline for EOR. The engineering study that will now be conducted will be amongst several others to be evaluated for further overall project funding in 2010. View the press release.

16 December 2009
Shell and RWE npower sign agreement for Aberthaw
Shell and RWE npower have agreed contracts to build a Cansolv integrated sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide capture pilot at the Aberthaw power station in Wales. The 3MW plant will be capable of capturing 50 tonnes of CO2 per day from a slipstream of the flue gas at Aberthaw. Subject to planning permission being granted, construction is expected to begin in January with commissioning expected in early 2011. View the press release.

16 December 2009
French funding for CCS announced
President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced a €35 billion spending plan that includes support for sustainable development in France. €1.5 billion has been earmarked for CCS. View the full story.

15 December 2009
Maersk, Fortum and TVO announce joint CCS project
Maersk, Fortum and TVO have joined forces for a project that will capture CO2 from the Meri-Pori coal-fired power plant in Finland and transport it by Maersk Tankers’ vessels for geological storage. Maersk Oil will investigate the possibilities for storing the CO2 in depleting oil and gas fields in the Danish North Sea and using it for EOR. The project aims to begin operation by 2015 and store over 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The partners hope that the project will qualify for the EU’s CCS Demonstration Programme. View the press release.

14 December 2009
Major Economies Forum releases Technology Action Plans
The Major Economies Forum (MEF) has released ten Technology Action Plans setting out options for ambitious government action on ten key clean energy technologies. The US now plans to invite ministers from MEF countries and those working under the Global Partnership to meet and discuss how to promote progress in these areas. The CCS action plan was developed by the UK and Australia, and includes recommendations to ensure the fulfilment of the G8 commitment to support the launch of 20 CCS projects by 2010 and to provide government investment in both integrated CCS projects and work to accelerate understanding of storage sites. View the press release and a further press release.

11 December 2009
Spain introduces CCS legislation
Spain has set out draft legislation to regulate geological storage of CO2. The draft bill was introduced by the Ministry for the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, with the aim of transposing the EU’s CCS Directive into Spanish law. View the press release and the full story.

10 December 2009
Senators release framework for climate change legislation
Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman have released their framework for comprehensive climate change and energy independence legislation. The framework includes a commitment to providing dedicated support for early deployment of CCS. View the press release.

9 December 2009
UK announces support for four demonstration projects
The Chancellor, Alistair Darling has announced in his Pre-Budget Report that the UK will now support a total of four CCS demonstration projects. This is an important step forward from the previous commitment of ‘up to four’ projects. The report states that the Government intends to phase in these projects over the period 2014-2018. The projects will be funded by the levy on electricity supplies that is included in the current Energy Bill. The Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons earlier this week. The report also notes that enabling powers included in the Bill “will be capable of raising funds to retrofit CCS onto any generating units of the power station not fitted with the equipment from the outset.” View the report.

9 December 2009
Commission approves six CCS projects for recovery package funding
The European Commission has announced its approval of six CCS projects to receive €1 billion from the European Energy Programme for Recovery. The projects at Jaenschwalde, Rotterdam, Belchatow, Compostilla and Hatfield will all receive €180 million each. Porto-Tolle in Italy will receive €100 million. View the press release and the project list.

8 December 2009
Australia reveals CCS project short list
The Australian Government has announced that four projects will move to the next stage of assessment in their $2 billion CCS Flagships Program. The Australian Government will now spend up to $120 million on pre-feasibility work to further assess the following projects:

• Wandoan power plant project northwest of Brisbane, generating 334 MWe and aiming to store up to 2.5 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum;
• ZeroGen power plant project west of Gladstone in Queensland, generating 400 MWe and aiming to store up to 2.0 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum;
• Collie South West Hub project southwest of Perth which aims to store up to 3.3 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum, captured from surrounding industry including coal-fired power plants; and
• CarbonNet project in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley which aims to store between 3 and 5 mega tonnes of CO2 per annum, captured from coal-fired power plants in the region.

View the press release.

7 December 2009
Copenhagen conference begins
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference has begun in Copenhagen. The two week meeting is the culmination of a process set in motion in Bali, where Parties to the UNFCCC agreed to conclude negotiations on a new global deal in Denmark in 2009. Starting today, UNFCCC working groups have six days to conclude negotiations before the Ministerial High Level Segment starts 16 December. Ministers will then have two days to take any unresolved issues forward and prepare a workable package, which world leaders can endorse on 18 December. View the press release.

Members of the CCSA team will be amongst over 15,000 participants at the conference. For those on Twitter, Jeff will be regularly updating his Twitter-feed during the conference; you can read his Tweets by following @JeffChapmanCCSA

4 December 2009
GCCSI opens support programme
The Global CCS Institute (GCCSI) has opened its Project Funding and Support Program, which will allocate AUD $50 million per annum to support a wide portfolio of CCS projects around the world. The funding will be aimed at large-scale CCS projects in the critical stages of project concept and development. This support could include funding pre-feasibility studies, assistance to overcome barriers, regulatory facilitation and linking project partners and investors. View the press release.

4 December 2009
US announces $3bn investment in CCS
The US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has announced the selection of three new projects to accelerate the development of CCS. Investment of up to $979 million by the US Department of Energy, including funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be leveraged by more than $2.2 billion in private capital cost share as part of the third round of the Department’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. The three projects are:

• American Electric Power’s Mountaineer CCS demonstration in West Virginia.
• Southern Company’s 160 MW CCS retrofit at Alabama Power’s Plant Barry coal-fired power station.
• Texas Clean Energy’s 400 MW CCS demonstration plant.

View the press release.

4 December 2009
EU launches CCS knowledge sharing network
The European Commission has launched its new knowledge sharing network for CCS demonstration projects. The network will be coordinated by DNV and will provide a means of exchanging information and sharing experience. The focus of the network will be on identifying best practices and accelerating the process towards wider deployment of CCS. View the press release.

1 December 2009
Alberta funds Swan Hills project
The Alberta Government has signed a Letter of Intent with Swan Hills Synfuels for an in-situ coal gasification project with CCS. The province will invest C$285 million in the project from its $2 billion CCS Fund. The project will convert deep, unmineable coal near Swan Hills into syngas and generate electricity. It will capture up to 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year for use in enhanced oil recovery in the area. Construction is expected to begin in 2011 with capture scheduled to start by 2015. View the press release.

30 November 2009
EU and China reaffirm support for CCS
The Twelfth EU-China Summit has concluded in Nanjing, China. The two sides reaffirmed their aim to develop and demonstrate CCS. China welcomed the move to progress with the NZEC project and the pledge by the European Commission of up to €57 million to support the project. View the joint statement.

25 November 2009
Major breakthrough for carbon capture at Longannet
ScottishPower and Aker Clean Carbon have announced a major breakthrough as a result of tests being conducted at their post-combustion capture pilot plant at Longannet. The plant has successfully demonstrated a reduction in the energy requirement of the capture process by about a third from a reference plant. The project is part of the SOLVit R&D programme and testing will continue until February next year. View the press release.

24 November 2009
Canada and Alberta support CO2 pipeline
The Canadian Federal and Alberta Governments have committed C$558 million to fund a CO2 pipeline in Alberta. The 240 km pipeline, named “The Alberta Carbon Trunk Line”, will be able to carry up to 40,000 tonnes of CO2 per day, although initially the pipeline will take 5,100 tonnes, produced in the Industrial Heartland near Fort Saskatchewan, and store it in aging oil fields in the central part of the province. Alberta has committed C$495 million over 15 years for the pipeline (as part of the C$2 billion set aside for CCS) with the remaining C$63 million coming from the Federal Government. Construction is set to begin in 2011 with first shipments expected in late 2012. View the full story and the press release.

16 November 2009
New US-China Clean Energy Research Center announced
A new US-China Clean Energy Research Center has been announced during Barack Obama’s visit to Beijing. The Center will facilitate joint research and development on topics including CCS. It will benefit from at least $150 million of public and private funding over five years. The two countries also agreed to promote cooperation on large-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstration projects and to begin work immediately on the development, deployment, diffusion, and transfer of CCS technology. View the press release.

It was also announced that GE Energy and Shenhua Group have signed an agreement on IGCC and CCS, and that Peabody will now be more involved in the GreenGen project.

9 November 2009
UK publishes NPSs and A Framework for the Development of Clean Coal
The UK Government has published six draft National Policy Statements (NPS) on energy, designed to guide the work of the Infrastructure Planning Commission and to speed up the process of gaining planning permission. The draft NPSs will now be consulted on. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has also published 'A Framework for the Development of Clean Coal' in response to their recent consultation. In his statement to the House of Commons, the Secretary of State, Ed Miliband said that CCS will now be required on a portion of all new coal-fired power stations. A levy will support up to four projects, perhaps two post-combustion projects and two pre-combustion projects. The pre-combustion plants will be expected to fully fit CCS from the start. The post-combustion plants will be expected to fit CCS onto a portion of the plant with the rest to be retrofitted by 2025. The retrofit will also be supported by the levy. The Government also confirmed today that it has received two bids, from E.ON and ScottishPower, to proceed to the next stage of the current CCS competition. View the DECC press release and the CCSA press release.

5 November 2009
Storage project reaches million tonne milestone
A large-scale CO2 storage project at Cranfield in Mississippi has become the fifth in the world to reach the milestone of over 1 million tonnes of CO2 injected. The project is led by the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), one of seven members of the US Department of Energy’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Program. The project combines the use of CO2 injection with EOR, followed by CO2 injection into deeper and larger saline formations. View the press release.

4 November 2009
Alstom and Schlumberger to offer carbon capture ready studies
Alstom and Schlumberger have announced an agreement to jointly offer studies into carbon capture readiness. The studies will involve technical analysis identifying how a power plant could be adapted to accommodate Alstom capture systems, as well as evaluation of potential storage sites for the plant and required investments for future CO2 transport and storage. View the press release.

30 October 2009
Alstom and AEP formally launch pilot plant
American Electric Power (AEP) and Alstom have formally launched their CCS pilot project at AEP’s Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia. The 20MW project is the world’s first to both capture and store CO2 from a coal-fired power station. It began capturing on 1 September and storing on 2 October, and is designed to capture at lease 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. View the press release.

29 October 2009
GE technology selected for Hydrogen Energy project
GE Energy has signed a technology licensing agreement with Hydrogen Energy for a proposed 250MW IGCC plant in Kern County, California. The plant will be designed to capture 90% of its CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and storage in an adjacent oil field. View the press release.

27 October 2009
ICE launches report on CCS
The Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE) has launched a new report entitled Carbon Capture and Storage – Time to Deliver. The report features six papers on various different aspects of CCS, including one written by Jeff Chapman, Chief Executive of the CCSA. Speaking at the launch event, ICE Vice President Geoff French said: “The UK was quick on the uptake in the global race to deploy CCS but now we have fallen behind other nations. If we want to keep a competitive lead and take advantage of the export opportunity it presents, progress needs to be greatly accelerated.” View the press release.

22 October 2009
GE to provide technology for Gorgon project
GE has announced that it has been selected by Chevron to provide compression equipment for the Gorgon CCS project. The equipment will be manufactured in Italy and shipped in 2011 and 2012. View the press release.

21 October 2009
MRCSP completes successful CO2 injection test
The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) has successfully injected 1,000 tonnes of CO2 into a deep saline formation known as the Mount Simon Sandstone. MRCSP is one of the US Department of Energy’s seven regional CCS partnerships. The results indicate that the formation has good potential to serve as a storage site for stationary CO2 sources in the region. View the press release.

18-19 October 2009
Major Economies Forum meets in London
The Major Economies Forum (MEF) meeting took place in London this week and was attended by officials from seventeen major economies. The meeting focused on finance, technology, mitigation pathways, how to reflect mitigation commitments and actions, and ways of improving transparency and accountability. Progress on developing the eight technology action plans, including one on CCS, was noted and these are due to be published on 15 November. View the final MEF communiqué.

16 October 2009
Commission recommends CCS projects to Parliament
The European Commission has recommended six CCS projects to the European Parliament to receive funding under the economic recovery package. The projects are Jaenschwalde in Germany, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Belchatow in Poland, Compostilla in Spain, Hatfield in the UK and Porto Tolle in Italy. The European Parliament now has a month to raise objections and the final list of winners is expected to be published around mid-November. View the full story.

15 October 2009
Alstom and TransAlta launch Project Pioneer
Alstom and TransAlta, the Canadian power company, have announced the creation of a partnership to construct the world’s largest CCS demonstration project at the Keephills 3 power plant in Alberta, Canada. Project Pioneer will capture and store one million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2015, using Alstom’s chilled ammonia capture technology. The project will benefit from €500 million in funding from the Alberta and Canadian governments. Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom Power said: “The significant size of this project demonstrates that we are no longer in the testing phase, but are ready for commercialisation.” View the press release.

14 October 2009
GCCSI announces $3.6m in funding
The Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) has announced AUD $3.6 million of funding for a broad range of activities that aim to build knowledge and expertise in order to accelerate deployment of CCS. From this funding $1.2 million will support the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum’s Capacity Building Program and $2.4 million (in conjunction with a significant contribution from the Norwegian Government) will support CCS capacity building through the World Bank CCS Trust Fund. View the press release.

14 October 2009
Alberta signs letter of intent with TransAlta
The Alberta government and TransAlta Corporation have signed a Letter of Intent for Project Pioneer that will demonstrate CCS technology. Alberta will provide $431 million of funding for the project over 15 years, as well as an additional $5 million for front end engineering and design. The Government of Canada will also contribute $343 million to the project through their Clean Energy Fund and ecoENERGY Technology Initiative. View the press release.

14 October 2009
Siemens technology chosen for Fortum CCS project
Fortum has announced that Siemens will provide CCS technology for its demonstration at the Meri-Pori 565 MW coal-fired power plant in Western Finland. The demonstration will capture from approximately 50% of the power station’s flue gases and is due to begin operation in 2015. View the full story.

14 October 2009
Saudi Arabia announces CO2 EOR demonstration project
Saudi Arabia has announced plans for a CO2 EOR project. The demonstration at the Ghawar oilfield is due to begin in 2013. View the full story.

13 October 2009
IEA releases CCS roadmap
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a new CCS roadmap at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum Ministerial meeting in London. The roadmap sets out milestones and key actions for CCS to achieve its greenhouse gas mitigation potential. The growth plan aims to see 100 projects globally by 2020 and over 3000 projects by 2050. View the press release.

13 October 2009
CCP briefing to CSLF
The CO2 Capture Project (CCP) gave a briefing to ministers at the recent CSLF meeting on progress that has been made on some of the remaining technical barriers to CCS. Studies undertaken by CCP confirm that the safe, long-term geological storage of CO2 is achievable. The CCP’s findings are set out in a new book Advances in CO2 Capture and Storage Technology. At the meeting CCP received a CSLF Recognition Award. View the press release.

13 October 2009
South Korea to invest $1.1bn in CCS
The South Korean government has said that the state owned utility, Korea Electric Power Corp. will invest $1.1 billion (1.3 trillion won) by 2020 in CCS. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced that the Government will also spend a further 100 billion won on CCS R&D. View the full story.

12 October 2009
Chu calls for affordable CCS deployment within a decade
Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy, has called adoption of a goal to advance CCS technology to the point where widespread, affordable deployment can begin within a decade. In a letter to energy ministers, scientists and industry partners around the world, he states that “…finding safe, affordable, broadly deployable methods to capture and store carbon dioxide is clearly amongst the most important issues scientists have ever been asked to solve. We can, and should, and must strive to do so within the next 8 to 10 years.” View the letter.

12-14 October 2009
Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
Energy Ministers from around the world are this week meeting for the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) Ministerial meeting in London, which follows immediately after a meeting of the CSLF Stakeholder Forum.
View the CCSA press release and the CSLF press releases.
Read the CSLF stakeholder communique and the CSLF ministerial communique
Download a video (17Mb) by Lord Oxburgh, President of the CCSA (this is a large file, it is reccomend that you save to your computer before opening - Right-click & 'Save Target As').

9 October 2009
ETI launches CO2 storage assessment project
The Energy Technologies Institute has launched a new project to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s CO2 storage capacity. The £3.5 million project, known as the United Kingdom CO2 Storage Appraisal Project (UKSAP), will be led by Senergy Alternative Energy. View the press release.

8 October 2009
Alberta signs letter of intent with Shell
The province of Alberta has signed a letter of intent with Shell Canada to provide $745 million in funding for its Quest CCS project over the next 15 years. The project is a joint venture with Chevron Canada and Marathon Oil Sands that will see up to 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year captured from the Scotford Upgrader and stored. The funding is part of the $2 billion commitment made by the government of Alberta to advance CCS. Alberta is also contributing $120 million to the project through its Clean Energy Fund. View the press release.

8 October 2009
Pilot project successfully captures 90% of CO2
Alstom, We Energies and The Electric Power Research Institue (EPRI) have announced that their pilot plant at the Pleasant Prairie coal-fired power station in Wisconsin has successfully demonstrated more than 90% capture of CO2 from a flue stream. The 1.7MW plant has demonstrated use of Alstom’s chilled ammonia capture process in real world conditions. Testing began in early 2008 and will conclude this year. View the press release.

8 October 2009
E.ON delays Kingsnorth
E.ON has announced that it will delay a decision on Kingsnorth. In a statement the company said: “We can confirm that we expect to defer an investment decision on the Kingsnorth proposals for up to two to three years. This is based on the global recession, which has pushed back the need for new plant in the UK to around 2016 because of the reduction in demand for electricity.” View the full story.

2 October 2009
Pilot project begins storing CO2
A CCS pilot at American Electric Power’s Mountaineer plant in West Virginia has begun storing CO2. The CO2 stream from the 20MW pilot was judged to be pure enough to store last week. The joint project by AEP and Alstom is expected to run for two to five years and has cost approximately $100 million. View the full story.

30 September 2009
South African CCS centre launched
The South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage has officially been launched, as part of Carbon Capture and Storage Week that has also included conferences and workshops in Johannesburg. View the full story.

29 September 2009
Operation begins at Toshiba's pilot plant
Toshiba has completed construction and begun operating its CCS pilot plant at the Mikawa Power Plant in Omuta, Japan. The pilot is designed to capture 10 tonnes of CO2 per day from the flue gases of the coal-fired power plant. Toshiba aims to be able to meet emerging needs for CCS systems at power stations by 2015 and hopes to generate net sales of 100 billion yen in 2020 through CCS related business. View the press release.

25 September 2009
DECC launches consultation on licensing regime
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has launched a new consultation on the Government’s proposals for an offshore carbon dioxide licensing regime. The regime will be based on powers given by the Energy Act 2008 and forms part of the transposition into UK law of the EU Directive on the geological storage of CO2. The consultation runs until 30th December 2009. View the consultation documents and the press release.

22 September 2009
Doosan Babcock calls for more ambitious UK CCS programme
Doosan Babcock has called for urgent action by the UK Government to ensure that CCS objectives are met, warning that current proposals could lead to no new coal-fired power stations or CCS demonstrations being built. Doosan Babcock proposes a ‘Middle Way’ approach that would include a commitment by Government (to be made before the Copenhagen negotiations) to at least four CCS projects covering at least three capture technologies and two or three options for storage. View the press release.

18 September 2009
E.ON and Siemens switch on pilot plant
E.ON and Siemens have begun operating a CO2 capture pilot plant at E.ON’s Staudinger coal-fired power station in Germany. The pilot will capture CO2 from the power plant’s flue gas and the results will be used to optimise the post-combustion capture process as well as serving as a basis for further large-scale CCS demonstrations. The project is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics (under the COORETEC Initiative) and is intended to run until the end of 2010. View the press release.

14 September 2009
Italy-China partnership on CCS
An agreement to cooperate on CCS technology development has been signed by the Minister for Science and Technology in China, the Minister of the Environment in Italy and by the Director of Enel’s Engineering and Innovation Division. The agreement will encourage information exchange between researchers in China and Italy, and calls for a feasibility study into installing capture facilities at a Chinese coal-fired plant with the CO2 then being used for EOR purposes. Enel will contribute by sharing experience gained at its CO2 capture pilot at Federico II Plant, which is due to start operating in 2010. View the press release.

11 September 2009
Canadian provinces sign CCS MOU
Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on CCS technology and policy, agreeing to advance cooperation on research and technology. Premier Stelmach of Alberta said: “By joining forces with B.C. and Saskatchewan, we can better develop and deploy this innovative technology, helping to meet climate change objectives and make us international leaders in this technology.” View the press release.

11 September 2009
Plans for CCS project in Queensland announced
Waratah Coal has announced that it plans to build a $1.25 billion coal-fired power station with CCS in the Galilee Basin in Queensland, Australia. The company has begun pre-feasibility studies into the 450MW plant. Initial studies have already shown high potential for CO2 storage in the Galilee Basin. View the press release.

10 September 2009
Alstom and Dow start up CCS pilot
Alstom and Dow have begun operating a pilot plant to capture CO2 from a coal-fired boiler at Dow’s facility in South Charleston, West Virginia. The pilot uses proprietary advanced-amine technology to capture approximately 1,800 tonnes of CO2 per year. It will operate for the next two years. View the press release.

9 September 2009
CCS could be a boom industry for the UK
New research from the University of Edinburgh has found that CCS could be one of the boom industries over the next two decades in the UK. Britain could make up to £5 billion per year selling licences to store CO2 to other countries and the market for CCS technology could be worth a further £3 billion to £5 billion. The CCS industry could support up to 240,000 jobs, which is almost as much as current levels in the North Sea oil and gas industries. Speaking at the British Science Festival, Dr Haszeldine said: “We need to capitalise on our technical ability and this huge storage asset, and do not just one demonstration project - which the Government has talked about being ready by 2014, but to go for those four demonstrations, and probably to five, by 2016.” View the full story and the paper.

2 September 2009
CO2 transmission guidelines completed
A joint industry partnership initiated by DNV and known as CO2PIPETRANS has completed its guidelines on pipeline transport of CO2. The guidelines cover development, design, construction, testing, operation and maintenance of steel pipelines for CO2 transmission, as well as identifying further gaps in knowledge that will be addressed in phase two of the JIP (for which new partners are being sought). View the press release.

2 September 2009
CDM Executive Board releases report
The CDM Executive Board has released its final report for the UNFCCC on the implications of including CCS activities in the Clean Development Mechanism. The report covers technical, methodological, legal, environmental and market issues. View the report.

31 August 2009
Chinese CCS project to be completed this year
Shanghai Shidongkou Second Power Plant is due to complete construction and begin capturing up to 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from a coal-fired power plant by the end of this year. The CCS project is the second by the company’s parent, Huaneng Power International Inc., and is expected to cost approximately $22 million. View the full story.

26 August 2009
Australia's Gorgon project clears final hurdles
The Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia, Barrow Island, has cleared remaining regulatory hurdles following the approval of the project by the Australian Environment Ministry and the Western Australia state government, who have also agreed to jointly accept long term liability for the storage of CO2 under Barrow Island. US oil company Chevron, the main project partner alongside Shell and Exxon Mobil, has already received AUD $60 million in funding from the Australian Government, and Chevron expects to give the go ahead to the project in mid-September. As well as consisting of three 5 million tonnes per year LNG trains and a domestic gas plant, Chevron also aims to build the worlds largest CCS demonstration project. View the full story and the Chevron press release.

20 August 2009
Queensland bans unabated coal
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has unveiled a new climate change strategy, which allocates AUD $87 million to new initiatives. At the heart of the strategy is a ban on new coal-fired power stations unless they meet two requirements; utilising state of the art low emission technology as well as designed as carbon capture and storage ready to be retrofitted with CCS within five years of CCS being made commercially viable. View the full story.

19 August 2009
Knowledge Transfer Network selects APGTF as delivery partner
Following the recent establishment by the Technology Strategy Board of a new Energy Generation & Supply Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), the Advanced Power Generation Technology Forum (APGTF) has been chosen as the delivery partner for one of the four priority areas to be covered by the KTN – the Carbon Abatement Technologies (CATs) area. The Technology Strategy Board will formally launch the Energy Generation & Supply KTN on the 13th October at their “Innovate 09” event in London. View the press release.

18 August 2009
RWE plant in Germany tests CO2 scrubbing
A pilot plant to test CO2 scrubbing from flue gases has been launched at the RWE Niederaussem brown coal plant in Western Germany. Partners in the project include BASF, supplying solvents, and Linde, supplying process engineering. The project is 40 per cent funded by the Berlin Ministry and if it proves successful, the process will be transferred to existing coal and gas fired power stations from 2020. View the full story.

13 August 2009
Shell and National Grid join ScottishPower's CCS consortium
Shell and National Grid have joined ScottishPower’s CCS consortium, which also includes Aker Clean Carbon. The consortium has entered the UK’s CCS competition with a bid based on a retro-fit project at Longannet power station. Nick Horler, Chief Executive of Scottish Power said: “I am delighted to welcome Shell and National Grid to the team. Both of these companies will bring specialist knowledge, expertise and opportunities for growth in the development of this cutting edge technology. For the consortium the two new companies represent a ‘perfect fit’ as it strives to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% from its power plant at Longannet in Scotland.” View the press release.

10 August 2009
North American CCS partnership
At the North American Leaders Summit, the U.S., Mexico and Canada have agreed a partnership on CCS and committed to producing a North American Carbon Atlas that will result in uniform mapping methodology and data sharing on CO2 sources and potential storage sites. The partnership will also explore ways to collaborate on research, development and demonstration.View the press release.

27 July 2009
GE announces Australian IGCC plant
GE Energy has announced an IGCC plant with CCS to be built in Queensland, Australia. The proposed 400MW Wandoan project would be capable of capturing 90% of its CO2 and could be operating by late 2015 or early 2016. Stanwell and Xstrata Coal will work with GE to develop the project. View the press release.

24 July 2009
Doosan Babcock launches OxyCoal demonstration
Doosan Babcock has launched the world’s largest OxyCoal Clean Combustion Test Facility. Joan Ruddock, Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), opened the new facility at Renfrew, which will demonstrate Doosan Babcock’s OxyCoal Clean Combustion system on a 40MWth burner. The project is a collaboration between Doosan Babcock, DECC and Scottish and Southern Energy, as well as Air Products, Drax, DONG, EDF, E.ON, ScottishPower, Vattenfall and UK Coal. View the press release.

15 July 2009
UK launches Low Carbon Transition Plan and Low Carbon Industrial Strategy
In a new White Paper, the UK Government has set out its plan for the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy, including how 2020 emissions reductions targets will be achieved. The paper states that in 2011 the levy on electricity suppliers to fund CCS demonstration projects is to be in place and that the government is considering how to encourage clusters (in areas such as Yorkshire and Humber, the Thames Estuary, the Firth of Forth, Tyne/Tees and Merseyside). The paper also announces that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will establish an Office of Carbon Capture and Storage (OCCS). DECC will consult with stakeholders on the objectives, functions and tasks of OCCS and aims to announce further details in the autumn. The UK Government has also published its Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, which aims to ensure that British businesses are able to maximise opportunities and minimise costs in the transition to a low carbon economy. View the Low Carbon Transition Plan and the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy.

9 July 2009
Major Economies Forum declaration
Participants in the Major Economies Forum have released a declaration outlining their vision for future cooperation on climate change issues. This includes statements that they will establish a Global Partnership to drive low carbon technologies and those countries taking a lead on technologies (including CCS) will report by 15 November on action plans and roadmaps and give recommendations for further progress. The declaration also recognises the need to urgently scale up financial resources for addressing climate change and that this should involve support for action in developing countries. View the press release.

7 July 2009
EU Council approves project list
The European Council has approved the list of energy projects to benefit from the EU’s economic recovery plan. The list includes 13 CCS projects that could benefit from €1050 million. View the press release.

1 July 2009
US DOE awards $408 million to two CCS projects
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that projects by CCSA member Hydrogen Energy and Basin Electric Power Cooperative will receive up to $408 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Hydrogen Energy has been awarded $308 million for its IGCC plant in Kern County, California, which will capture 90% of its CO2 emissions. The captured CO2 will be used for enhanced oil recovery and stored. Basin Electric’s post-combustion project, at their Antelope Valley Station near Beulah, will receive $100 million. The selection of the two projects is part of the DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. View the US DOE press release and the Hydrogen Energy press release.

30 June 2009
Alberta selects three CCS projects
The Alberta government has selected three CCS projects that will benefit from $2 billion of funding. The projects are Shell, Chevron and Marathon Oil Sands CCS project at the Scotford Upgrader, The Alberta Carbon Trunk Line by Enhance and Northwest and EPCOR and Enbridge’s IGCC CCS plant at EPCOR’s existing Genesee power plant. The Government hopes to have letters of intent signed by the end of July and has budgeted $100 million in the current fiscal year for engineering and design work on these projects. View the press release.

30 June 2009
Imperial College centre for CCS launched
Researchers at Imperial College were pleased to launch the Imperial College Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (IC4S) on Tuesday 23rd June to an industry-based audience. The college-wide virtual Centre, a part of the Energy Futures Laboratory and supported by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, will act as a focal point for work at Imperial on all aspects of CCS. It will draw upon the international reputation and multidisciplinary nature of Imperial's programmes to partner with industry, government and other organisations in a holistic way to help address the challenges of delivering CCS. The launch event included a keynote speech from Neil Hirst, Director for Energy Technology and R&D at the International Energy Agency. Further details can be found at www.imperial.ac.uk/ccs or by contacting the IC4S Director, Jon Gibbins.

29 June 2009
Energy Bill proposed to fund CCS demonstration projects
As part of the legislative programme for the forthcoming session of Parliament set out by the government today, a new Energy Bill has been proposed in order to introduce a funding mechanism to support up to four CCS demonstration projects in the UK. The current consultation, ‘A framework for the development of clean coal’, includes proposals for the detailed design of the mechanism. View the legislative programme.

26 June 2009
UK launches Copenhagen manifesto
The UK Government has published The Road to Copenhagen – a manifesto detailing the UK’s hope for a new global climate change agreement in Copenhagen later this year. In his speech to launch the manifesto, when commenting on reducing emissions in developing countries, the Prime Minister said: “…And perhaps most vitally of all, given the likelihood of continued fossil fuel use, we need to see Carbon Capture and Storage being demonstrated in developing economies as well as developed ones.” On CCS, the manifesto notes that “In October the UK will be co-hosting with Norway the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) where we aim to scale up international action on Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration and build the momentum for an ambitious outcome at Copenhagen.” View the press release.

25 June 2009
EU to fund CCS demonstration project in China
The European Commission has announced plans to allocate up to €50 million for the construction and operation of a CCS demonstration project in China, as part of the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal Plant project. The money comes from a total of €60 million that has been earmarked for cooperation with emerging economies on clean coal technologies and CCS. View the press release.

18 June 2009
GreenGen CCS project to begin construction
Construction of the GreenGen CCS project is expected to begin on 26 June 2009. The new coal-fired power station in Tianjin (150km from Beijing) will be China’s first commercial scale CCS project. The first phase, at a size of 250 MWe, is expected to begin operation in 2011. A further two phases will expand the project to 650 MW by 2016. Captured CO2 will be used for Enhanced Oil Recovery. View the full story.

17 June 2009
UK Government Launches Clean Coal Consultation
The UK Government has launched its consultation document 'A framework for the development of clean coal' as as the following report: 'Future Value of Coal Carbon Abatement Technologies to UK Industry’, ‘Technical Analysis of CCS Transportation Infrastructure’ and ‘Developing a Regulatory Framework for CCS Transportation Infrastructure (Volume 1 & 2)'. View the DECC press release, the consultation documents, the reports and the CCSA press release.

2 June 2009
Commission to approve OSPAR convention
The European Commission has released a decision draft, proposing to approve amendments to the OSPAR convention. The amendments will legally enable CO2 storage in geological formations in the OSPAR maritime area. A Council decision is expected to be made on behalf of the European Community. View the proposed decision text.

29 May 2009
CCS test unit launched at Longannet
ScottishPower has launched the UK’s first carbon capture test facility at a coal-fired power station. The post-combustion test unit was developed by Aker Clean Carbon and will be able to process 1000 cubic metres of flue gas per hour. It will enable the effectiveness of the chemical amine solution that captures CO2 to be tested under different conditions. ScottishPower’s parent company, Iberdrola, also confirmed that it will create a global Centre of Excellence to develop CCS technology in the UK and announced that it will be funding a Chair in CCS at the University of Edinburgh. View the ScottishPower press release and the Aker Clean Carbon press release.

22 May 2009
WWF report suggests UK CCS demonstrations could increase emissions
A new report from WWF, Carbon Choices – options for demonstrating carbon capture and storage on the UK power sector, concludes that Government risks raising UK CO2 emissions if consent is given to new coal-fired power stations with small-scale CCS demonstration projects. “Building a new power station on the scale of Kingsnorth with CCS technology covering only a small portion of its output, will raise the country’s carbon emissions by millions of tonnes,” says Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at WWF-UK. ”A much smarter way of demonstrating the technology is to use an existing station that would be running anyway - this would actually reduce our emissions, and would also avoid locking us in to a new generation of polluting coal stations if it turns out that CCS too difficult or expensive.” WWF supports using an Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) to ensure that demonstration projects ultimately lead to full-scale CCS. View the report.

21 May 2009
Committee approves American Clean Energy and Security Act
The Energy and Commerce Committee has approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Chairman Waxman said: “This bill, when enacted into law this year, will break our dependence on foreign oil, make our nation the world leader in clean energy jobs and technology, and cut global warming pollution.” The legislation aims to cut emissions by 17% (compared to 2005 levels) by 2020, 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050. It promotes energy efficiency, clean energy sources (such as CCS) and green jobs. View the press release.

20 May 2009
Canada announces details of C$1 billion clean energy fund
Canada has announced further details of its C$1 billion clean energy fund. The funding includes C$650 million for large-scale CCS demonstration projects, with the rest of the money designated to smaller renewable and alternative energy projects and research into clean energy technologies. The money is part of the two year C$40 billion economic stimulus package, which was announced in the Canadian Budget. View the full story.

18 May 2009
Poland launches energy strategy
The Polish Government has launched a draft energy strategy entitled “Energy Policy for Poland until 2030”. The strategy outlines Polish ambitions for CCS, which includes hosting two large-scale demonstration projects funded by the European Commission. A pilot CCS project is currently being developed in Belchatow and will receive €180 million in funding announced as part of the European economic recovery package. View the full story.

18 May 2009
Commission calls for proposals to gain EEPR funding
The European Commission has launched a call for proposals for projects to receive funding the recently agreed European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). The EEPR includes €1.05 billion for CCS projects. Project promoters have until 15 July 2009 to submit their proposals. The envisaged Community contribution to the UK for CCS under this package is €180 million, with Kingsnorth, Longannet, Tilbury and Hatfield all named as eligible projects. View the press release.

15 May 2009
Steven Chu announces $2.4 billion in CCS funding
The US Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, has announced that $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to accelerate the commercial deployment of CCS. The US Department of Energy is publishing Notices of Intent to issue this funding, which will allocate $800 million to the Clean Coal Power Initiative, $1.52 billion to large-scale industrial CCS projects, $50 million to characterise a minimum of 10 geological formations and $20 million for geological sequestration training and research. Steven Chu said: "To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we must accelerate our efforts to capture and store carbon in a safe and cost-effective way. This funding will both create jobs now and help position the United States to lead the world in CCS technologies, which will be in increasing demand in the years ahead." View the press release.

14 May 2009
US DOE releases report on potential for CO2 storage
The Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has published a new report, entitled Storage of Captured Carbon Dioxide Beneath Federal Lands, as a complementary document to the US Department of Energy’s 2008 Carbon Sequestration Atlas. The report estimates that there is potential to store between 126 and 375 billion tonnes of CO2 under approximately 400 million acres of Federal land. View the press release.

12 May 2009
$2 billion for CCS announced in Australian Budget
The Australian Government has announced $2 billion of funding for industrial-scale CCS projects as part of the Clean Energy Initiative in the 2009-10 Budget. The projects will be part of a CCS Flagships program, which aims to create 1000MW of low emission fossil fuel generation (across a range of capture technologies and storage geologies) and may include a CO2 storage hub. The total available funding for the Flagships program is $2.425 billion over 9 years. The Australian Government considers CCS and solar to be strategic technology priorities. View the press release.

12 May 2009
EPCOR and Siemens sign agreement on IGCC CCS project
Siemens has signed an agreement to provide power generation technology for EPCOR’s Genesee IGCC CCS project. EPCOR is currently undertaking FEED studies into the feasibility of the project, which is also being evaluated to qualify for funding as part of Alberta’s $2 billion program of support for CCS projects. View the full story.

7 May 2009
E.ON and EPSRC announce CCS research funding
E.ON and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have announced £6.9 million for four university-led CCS research projects. Under the E.ON/EPSRC partnership, a University of Nottingham led consortium will investigate CO2 capture, a Newcastle University led group with investigate CO2 transport in pipelines and Leeds University will lead a project on oxyfuel combustion. EPSRC is also funding a consortium led by the University of Edinburgh, which will investigate improving the economics of large-scale CCS. View the press release.

7 May 2009
PwC survey shows 83% of utilities are considering CCS projects
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2009 Utilities Global Survey reveals the extent to which the utilities industry views technology innovation as key to the future, with 83% of respondents from utility companies in Europe reporting that they are evaluating CCS projects. Manfred Wiegand, global utilities leader at PwC said: “It is obvious that it is impossible to invest fast enough in alternative sources of energy to displace the significant contribution that hydrocarbons represent. The development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in coal burning plant will perhaps be the most critical single development in the power sector in the coming decade. Like renewables, that will require very strong economic incentives and price signals.” The survey also highlights the importance of greater clarity from governments on climate change policies and concern that the economic recession will slow down action to address climate change. View the press release.

6 May 2009
MEPs approve economic recovery plan
MEPs have voted in favour of investing €5 billion in energy projects, broadband internet infrastructure and rural development as part of the EU’s economic recovery plan. The package includes €1.05 billion for CCS projects. The recovery plan lists thirteen CCS projects in seven Member States that can apply for the funding. If funds for CCS projects, gas and electricity infrastructure and offshore wind energy are not committed by the end of 2010 the Commission will declare its intention to propose using them for renewables and energy efficiency measures instead. View the press release.

5 May 2009
EU plans to fund a CCS plant in China by 2015
The European Commission is developing plans to fund a large-scale CCS plant in China. A report following work conducted by the NZEC project will be release in June as is expected to call for the project to be built by 2015. Member States will be asked to contribute to building costs and private companies will also be given incentives to invest. An official said: “We are not looking at the clean development mechanism (CDM) (to attract private investment), but trying to set up a sectoral crediting mechanism.” View the full story.

3 May 2009
Britain to cooperate with China on CCS
Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has said that Britain will share the benefits of its investment in CCS with developing countries such as China. The statement was made during his visit to Beijing to discuss climate change targets ahead of UNFCCC talks in Copenhagen later this year. View the full story.

1 May 2009
North Sea CO2 storage study unveiled
A study into CO2 storage capacity under the North Sea by the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage, the Scottish Government and industry partners has been released today. The study, entitled ‘Opportunities for CO2 Storage Around Scotland’, finds that there is a capacity for storing at least 4,600 to 46,000 million tonnes of CO2 in saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas fields around Scotland. The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, said: “The conclusions of this study underline just how vast Scotland’s potential in CCS is – we have the capacity to capture safely and store emissions from industrial coal-fired plants for the next 200 years… And the benefits go far beyond our environment. Electricity generated in Scottish power stations which are fitted with carbon capture technology will be comparable in price to energy generation using other low-carbon technology. The development of CCS in Scotland, including power stations and storage networks, has the potential to support 10,000 jobs.” View the press release.

23 April 2009
CCS to be required on all new coal-fired power stations in the UK
In a statement to Parliament today, Ed Miliband (Energy and Climate Change Secretary) set out proposals for the basis on which all new coal-fired power stations will be permitted in the future:
- CCS demonstration must be included. Up to four demonstration projects (including both pre- and post-combustion capture) will be funded by a new levy mechanism. Proposals on how this incentive will work are being developed.
- Full scale retrofit of CCS within five years of the technology being judged to be commercially and technically proven. (This judgement is to be made by the Environment Agency.)
The Government will be seeking views on if an emissions performance standard would be enable this to be implemented. A consultation will be released in the summer. The DECC press release notes that research suggests that carbon abatement technologies could sustain 50,000 jobs by 2030. The potential for CCS clusters and a new future for North Sea industry were also noted. View the DECC press release and the CCSA press release.

23 April 2009
Government response to 'capture-ready' consultation
The Government also published its response to last years consultation Towards Carbon Capture and Storage. Applications to all new gas, oil, coal, biomass and waste-to-energy power stations over 300MW will only be considered if:
- there is sufficient space to retrofit with CCS
- a suitable offshore site to store CO2 has been identified
- a feasible CO2 transport route has been identified
- there are no foreseeable barriers to retrofitting CCS
If all these criteria have been fulfilled then the power station will be considered ‘carbon capture ready’. View the DECC press release and the consultation documents.

22 April 2009
UK Budget 2009
In the Budget today, the Government has announced that it will put a levy mechanism in place to fund up to four CCS demonstration projects, as well as £90 million of funding for engineering and design studies for post-combustion capture coal-fired power stations. CCS is also mentioned in the Budget as a potential beneficiary of reforms announced to remove fiscal barriers to projects that reuse North Sea oil and gas infrastructure for other activities. In the UK’s first carbon budget, a new legally binding target of 34% reductions in emissions by 2020 has been set. Ed Miliband, Climate Change and Energy Secretary, will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow giving more detail on the UK’s plans for CCS. View the Treasury press release, the Chancellor's speech, the DECC press release and the CCSA press release.

16 April 2009
GCCSI launched
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally launched the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) today in Canberra. The Institute aims to accelerate the deployment of CCS and encourage information sharing. It currently has support from 85 members, with more expected to join by 1 July when it becomes a separate legal entity. The CCSA has become a founding member of the Institute. View the press release.

16 April 2009
Conservatives call for at least three UK CCS demonstration projects
In a speech today on ‘Building a Green Technology Recovery’, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne called on the government to announce at least three CCS projects. The report accompanying the speech states that, “The Government should announce that it will use part of its receipts from the EU Emissions trading Scheme to fund the installation of Carbon Capture and Storage equipment and pipeline networks for at least 5GW of new coal-fired power plant. Gordon Brown has failed to grasp the CCS opportunity, by only running one slow and narrowly defined pilot project and passing up any real chance of industry leadership by green-lighting more unabated coal power to be merely 'CCS ready'.” View the speech and the report.

8 April 2009
Commission approves UK aid for feasibility studies on two CCS projects
The European Commission has approved UK aid for the front end engineering and feasibility studies for two post-combustion CCS demonstration projects under EC Treaty state aid rules. View the press release.

6 April 2009
Council adopts CCS Directive
The Council of the European Union has today adopted a climate-energy legislative package. The package includes the CCS Directive (which sets out a regulatory framework for the geological storage of CO2) and the revised Emissions Trading System (which sets aside 300 million emission allowances to contribute to the funding of twelve CCS demonstration projects and innovative renewable energy projects). View the press release (which includes links to the new acts).

6 April 2009
New atlas of South African storage sites
A new atlas of CO2 storage sites in South Africa is being complied and is scheduled to be completed in April 2010. The project, which will cost two million South African rand (equivalent to $220,000), is being overseen by the new South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage. The first CO2 injection test in South Africa is planned for 2016, with a full demonstration plant planned for 2020. View the full story.

2 April 2009
New CO2 storage study
A study published today in the journal Nature has found dissolution in water to be the major trapping mechanism for CO2 stored in natural gas fields (rather than mineral fixation). Dr Gilfillan, from the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage (at the University of Edinburgh), who led the research said: “The study shows that naturally stored carbon dioxide has been safely stored for millions of years, which means that these sort of storage timescales should be achievable for the deliberate sequestration of the gas.” View the full story and the letter in Nature.

31 March 2009
Air Products to play a key role at Schwarze Pumpe
CCSA member Air Products has announced a new agreement with Vattenfall in which the company will install its proprietary CO2 capture, purification and compression system at Vattenfall's 30 MW oxyfuel pilot plant at Schwarze Pumpe in Germany. View the press release.

20 March 2009
EU leaders approve €1.05 billion of funding for CCS
EU leaders have approved €1.05 billion of funding for CCS projects. The money comes from a €5 billion budget surplus. Under the plan Germany, the UK, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain will all receive €180 million each, Italy will receive €100 million and France will receive €50 million. The French project will capture and store CO2 from a steel plant. View the full story, the CCSA press release and the text of the funding proposal from the European Presidency.

17 March 2009
Paul Golby calls for increased government CCS support
In a speech at the Adam Smith Institute, Paul Golby (Chief Executive of E.ON UK) has called for more government support for CCS. He added that E.ON will guarantee to build Kingsnorth with CCS if the Government will pay for it. View the full story and the CCSA press release.

11 March 2009
Commission appoints DNV to accelerate CCS
The European Commission has appointed DNV to accelerate the development of CCS through a knowledge sharing network of CCS demonstration projects. View the press release.

6 March 2009
UK launches vision for a low carbon industrial strategy
The UK Government has today launched its vision of a low-carbon industrial strategy. The website 'Low Carbon Industrial Strategy: A Vision' provides an opportunity to comment on the strategy and will run throughout March, with comments to be reviewed in April. These comments will help to create a comprehensive Low Carbon Industrial Strategy for the UK. Research commissioned by BERR has also been published today, which estimates that an additional 400,000 jobs could be created in the UK’s low carbon and environmental goods and services sector over the next decade. View the DECC press release and the CCSA press release.

5 March 2009
New seismic data from StatoilHydro's Sleipner project
New seismic data from StatoilHydro’s Sleipner CCS project shows that CO2 is not leaking and is spreading through the Utsira formation as expected. View the press release.

3 March 2009
APGTF presentations available
Presentations from the Advanced Power Generation Technology Forum's 9th Workshop are now available online. View the website.

27 February 2009
WWF calls for dramatic increase in CCS R&D funding
As part of a new roadmap to a successful global agreement in Copenhagen, WWF has called for EU financing of technology research and development to be increased by a factor of 10 by 2020, particularly in the areas of CCS, renewable energy and energy efficiency. View the press release.

26 February 2009
RWE npower to treble size of CCS pilot project
RWE npower has announced plans to treble the size of their carbon capture pilot plant at Aberthaw to 3 MW. Construction of the £8.4 million project is due to begin this year. The project is planned to be fully operational by 2010. View the press release.

25 February 2009
Ed Miliband hopes for more than one CCS demonstration project
In his evidence to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, Ed Miliband said "My aspiration is to have more than one demonstration project." View the video.

24 February 2009
EY report highlights extent of investment needed in UK energy supply
Ernst & Young have released a new report, which was commissioned by Centrica, entitled ‘Securing the UK’s energy future – meeting the financing challenge’. The study estimates that the UK energy supply industry will have to invest over £230 billion in new infrastructure by 2025 to address security of supply issues and meet emissions reductions targets. This includes £7.3 billion on coal-fired plants with CCS (3.2 GW by 2025) and £2 billion on CO2 transport infrastructure. View the press release.

23 February 2009
Joint venture between CAS and BP
CCSA member BP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have officially opened their joint venture Clean Energy Commercialization Centre (CECC) in Shanghai. The CECC will work to commercialise technologies such as CCS. View the full story.

19 February 2009
CO2CRC estimates that CCS costs could be reduced by a quarter
New research from CO2CRC (Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies) suggests that by addressing capture costs the overall cost of CCS could
be reduced by 25%. Through process integration studies, the research team found that estimates of the energy penalty associated with CCS could be significantly reduced. View the press release.

19 February 2009
Siemens and E.ON to build CCS pilot in Germany
CCSA members Siemens and E.ON have announced that they are to jointly build a pilot post-combustion capture plant at E.ON’s Staudinger power plant near Hanau in Germany. The pilot plant is expected to begin operating in the summer this year and will run until the end of 2010. The project is being sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics as part of the COORTEC initiative. View the full story.

12 February 2009
£15m for Carbon Abatement Technologies
The Technology Strategy Board, The Northern Way and the Department of Energy and Climate Change are to jointly invest £15 million in development and demonstration of new technologies that reduce CO2 emissions from power stations and large process industries. View the full story.

12 February 2009
National Grid unveils plans for CO2 transport and storage network
CCSA member, National Grid has announced that it is developing plans for National Grid Carbon – a £2 billion CO2 transport and storage network. The network would be developed around the Humber estuary in Yorkshire where several large CO2 sources are located and the company is thought to be in talks with E.ON, Drax Power, Scottish and Southern Energy and Yorkshire Forward. National Grid plans to be ready to operate its first CO2 pipeline system within three years. View the full story.

12 February 2009
Air Products wins Rushlight award
A team led by Air Products (who are members of the CCSA) have won the Rushlight Carbon Capture and Storage Award 2008 for their work on removing impurities in CO2 streams from coal-fired power plants. Other members of the team included Imperial College and Doosan Babcock. View the full story.

11 February 2009
StatoilHydro submits Mongstad plan
CCSA member, StatoilHydro has submitted its plans for CCS at Mongstad to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Ministry of the Environment (as part of the implementation agreement between the company and the government). The plans describe the facility, technology and the risks associated with achieving full-scale carbon capture. View the full story.

11 February 2009
SECARB begins CO2 injection
The US Department of Energy’s Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), which involves several CCSA members, has begun injecting CO2 into coal seams in the Central Appalachian Basin. The aim of the project is to assess the potential for CO2 storage in unmineable coal seams and enhanced coalbed methane recovery. View the full story.

6 February 2009
Aker wins contract to build advanced pilot CO2 capture plant
CCSA member Aker Clean Carbon has signed a contract to build one of the most advanced carbon capture facilities in the industry to date. The company on February 6 signed the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for building the amine plant at the European CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) in Norway. The facility is expected to be completed in 2011 and will have a total annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes CO2. Aker Clean Carbon won the contract in an open competition with participants from around the world. Aker Clean Carbon will deliver the technology and sister company Aker Solutions will build the plant, according to a contract between the two Aker-companies. Aker is also taking part in the UK government’s CCS competition in a consortium with ScottishPower and Marathon Oil. View the press release.

6 February 2009
Energy and Climate Change Committee issues calls for evidence
The Energy and Climate Change Committee has today issued two calls for written evidence for forthcoming inquiries into the future of Britain’s electricity networks and the UK offshore oil and gas industry. View the Committee's website.

5 February 2009
UK approves three new gas-fired power stations
Energy and Climate Change Minister Mike O’Brien has today given consent to three new gas fired power stations under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989: RWE npower’s at Pembroke, Powerfuel’s at Hatfield and Centrica’s at King’s Lynn. Each power station has agreed that they will have the necessary space available for retrofitting with CCS. Consent was also granted to Powerfuel to build a second phase at Hatfield, which would consist of an IGCC plant with CCS. This consent is conditional on the company providing evidence to Ministers on the safety of CO2 storage. View the DECC press release.

3 February 2009
EP adopts blueprint for energy strategy in EU
The European Parliament has adopted a report on the Second Strategic Energy Review. It will be included in a European Council debate on the EU’s future energy strategy in March. In relation to CCS the report notes, for example, the crucial importance of developing and deploying CCS in China. It also calls on the Commission “to consider all financial possibilities to build the 12 demonstration projects by 2015”. View the press release and the adopted text.

28 January 2009
EC proposes €1.25 billion of funding for CCS demonstration projects
The European Commission has today presented proposals for €5 billion of investment in energy and broadband infrastructure projects as part of the EU recovery plan. The €5 billion comes entirely from unspent money in the EU budget and a total of €1250 million has been proposed for investment in five CCS demonstration projects. A list of specific CCS projects that could potentially benefit from the money has been drawn up, with an envisaged Community contribution of €250 million for each project. Under the proposal Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain (with Portugal) and the UK will all host a project. The projects listed to potentially receive the funding in the UK are Kingsnorth, Longannet, Tilbury and Hatfield. View the press release and the proposal document.

27 January 2009
Presentations from World Future Energy Summit now available
Jeff Chapman, Chief Executive of the Association, spoke at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week. His presentation gave a world outlook on CCS. It was estimated that 16,000 people attended the summit and presentations given throughout the event are now available on the website.

19 January 2009
Zurich Annouces CCS Insurance Policies
Zurich has announced that it will now offer CCS Liability Insurance and Geologic Sequestration Financial Assurance (GSFA). The CCS Liability Insurance Policy covers pollution event liability, business interruption, control of well, transmission liability and geomechanical liability. The GSFA Policy applies to specified closure and post-closure activities.View the full story.

16 January 2009
Conservatives Support CCS in New Policy Paper
The Conservative party have today launched their new policy paper on how to turn Britain into a low carbon economy. The paper states that the UK is uniquely placed to show global leadership on CCS and commented on the UK CCS competition by stating that: “Picking one winner for a small-scale demonstration project reveals a profound lack of ambition and fails to create an adequate framework for the transition to low carbon generation.” The paper recommends using receipts from the auctioning of EU ETS permits to fund the creation of a new CO2 pipeline network, as well as to fund a variety of large-scale CCS demonstration projects. View the paper.

9 January 2009
Nick Otter to head GCCSI
Congratulations to Nick Otter of CCSA member Alstom, who has been appointed as head of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). The CCSA is a founding member of the Institute: for further details please see the story below.

9 January 2009
Dutch Government Allocates Funding for CCS
The Dutch government has granted €30 million to CCSA member Shell and a consortium led by GDF-Suez for CCS development schemes. The Shell scheme proposes to capture CO2 from the Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam for storage in depleted gas fields. The GDF-Suez consortium scheme plans to capture CO2 from an ammonia plant and store it in a depleted coal mine in the Limberg region. View the full story.

7 January 2009
SDC Calls for Emissions Performance Standards
The Sustainable Development Commission has advised the government to introduce Emissions Performance Standards (EPSs) for all new coal and gas-fired power plants. This would effectively ban any new plants being built without CCS. The report from the Commission warns that the carbon price under the EU ETS not be enough to ensure that CCS is deployed. View the full story.

5 January 2009
CCSA Becomes Founding Member of GCCSI
The CCSA has become a Founding Member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute. The Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Government, saying that it will support the GCCSI in fostering a global portfolio of CCS demonstration projects. The creation of the GCCSI was announced on the 19th September last year, with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledging $100 million per year to facilitate CCS demonstration projects as well as identifying further research as necessary. Other Founding Members include Alstom, Shell, Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi Corporation, Schlumberger, Anglo American, Xstrata Coal and the Climate Group. The UK, Norway and South Korea have also all recently announced membership.

1 January 2009
Nottingham Receives Grant for CCS research
The EPSRC has announced that it has awarded the University of Nottingham over £1 million for its Centre for Innovation in Carbon Capture and Storage. View the full story.

22 December 2008
CBI Releases Report on the Future of Coal
The CBI has today released a policy paper – The future of coal: securing electricity supply and clean coal technology. The paper describes CCS as vital if coal is to have a long term future and states that more support is needed to commercialise CCS by 2020. According to the paper, the UK could become a world leader in CCS technology and see significant benefits from the industry. However it also says that more than one demonstration project is needed to see this reward and that the UK government should consider financial support for additional UK-based demonstration projects. Investment in these projects, it says, should be sanctioned in 2009 with construction beginning in 2010. View the full story and the report.

20 December 2008
UK Joins GCCSI
The UK has announced that it has joined the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, along with South Korea and Norway. The announcement was made at an international energy and oil ministers meeting held in London on 19 December to discuss oil price volatility. The important potential of CCS to reduce CO2 emissions was noted during the meeting. In advance of the meeting it was also announced that the UK and Canada have signed a joint statement on CCS, agreeing to share experience and information in order to develop and promote the technology.
Read the DECC press release. View the full GCCSI story and the Canada-UK Joint Statement story.

17 December 2008
European Parliament Approves CCS Directive and Funding
The EU Climate and Energy package was today given the green light as the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of all the Directives. This included the CCS Directive, which saw no further changes with 623 votes in favour, 68 against and 22 abstentions. The Parliament also agreed funding of 300 million allowances under the EU ETS would to support the EU CCS demonstration projects. View the full story. The adopted text is available here.

12 December 2008
EU Council Agrees Funding for CCS
EU leaders have today agreed a deal to provide support for the construction of CCS demonstration projects. Following the latest meetings in Europe, the final decision from the EU Council states a figure of 300 million allowances to fund the EU’s 10-12 CCS projects. This figure is an increase from the Council’s draft conclusions to allocate 200 million allowances, which prompted immense pressure from CCS Directive rapporteur Chris Davies, as well as the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for the Council to improve its position. The final vote on the 300 million allowances takes place at the next plenary session on the 17th December, as part of the wider vote on the entire EU Climate and Energy Package.
View the conclusions from the EU Council. View the DECC press notice.

11 December 2008
Poznan – Still no Agreement on CCS in CDM
Members of the UN Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), meeting at the UNFCCC conference in Poznan this week (COP 14), could not reach agreement to include CCS in the Clean Development Mechanism. Further decisions on the involvement of CCS in CDM will therefore be delayed until the UNFCCC COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen taking place next year. View the full story.

10 December 2008
Policy Exchange Releases Report on UK Energy Policy
The think tank Policy Exchange has today released a report entitled ‘Credible energy policy – Meeting the challenges of security of supply and climate change’. The report discusses the pressing need in the UK for energy policy that addresses both security of supply in the UK and meeting climate change objectives. In relation to CCS the report specifically recommends that the Renewables Obligation should be transformed into a Low Carbon Obligation that includes nuclear power and CCS, as well as renewables. Read the full report. The Association welcomed the report with the following press release.

10 December 2008
RWE NPower Announces Joint Venture Entry into UK CCS Competition
CCSA member RWE npower has today announced that it has formed a joint venture partnership with Peel Holdings and Dong Energy to develop a CCS demonstration project as part of the UK CCS competition. If successful in the competition, the project would comprise a 400 MW post-combustion capture facility (as part of a new supercritical coal fired power station) with storage in disused gas fields in the North Sea. View the press release.

10 December 2008
Ed Miliband Speech Recognises Importance of CCS
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, yesterday described the development of CCS as essential, not just for the UK, but also for the world as a whole. The remark was made as part of a speech at Imperial College entitled ‘The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of a Department of Energy’. He said that proposals on moving towards a low carbon path, including driving CCS, would be published in the New Year. View the speech.

8 December 2008
Shell and Essent to Undertake CCS Feasibility Study
CCSA member Shell has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dutch energy company Essent agreeing to undertake a feasibility study into a 1000 MW power plant with CCS in the Netherlands. The study will assess the possibility of combining a high efficiency gasifier (to convert both coal and solid biomass), a power generation plant and CCS equipment, as well as assessing the suitability of particular depleted oil and gas fields for CO2 storage. View the press release.

8 December 2008
Alstom and PGE Elektrownia Belchatow announce CCS project
CCSA member Alstom announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Polish power generators PGE Elektrownia Belchatow to develop and deploy CCS at the Belchatow power plant in Poland. The project will be carried out in two phases: Alstom will in the initial phase design and build a pilot capture plant (at an existing unit) to be operational in 2011. The second phase will see the two companies construct a larger CCS project expected to be operational in 2015. The project is said to be a candidate for taking part in the EU CCS Flagship Programme. View the press release.

1 December 2008
Shell Acquires Cansolv
CCSA member Shell announced today that they have acquired 100% of shares in Cansolv Technologies Inc. Cansolv offers technology to reduce air pollution, which includes capturing CO2 and scrubbing SO2 from gas streams. Their expertise in carbon capture will allow Shell to further explore and develop post-combustion capture technology. View the press release.

1 December 2008
UKERC Publishes Report on Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy in the UK
The UK Energy Research Council has today published its report ‘Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy: What will it take for the UK?’ The report describes the need for decarbonisation of the electricity sector (through increasingly widespread deployment of coal with CCS, nuclear and wind power) as key to achieving large reductions in emissions. It also stresses that Government support is urgently required for demonstration and commercialisation of CCS and renewable technologies. View the full story.

1 December 2008
Committee on Climate Change Releases First Report to Government
The Committee on Climate Change has today released its report ‘Building a low-carbon economy – the UK’s contribution to tackling climate change’. It recommends the first three UK carbon budgets up to 2022, setting the UK on a path to reaching a target of 80% reductions in emissions by 2050. The report describes CCS as an “essential technology for reducing global emissions” and states that it must be developed rapidly.
View the report. The Association welcomed the report with the following press release.

24 November 2008
DNV Launches JIP for Qualifying CO2 Storage Sites
DNV has launched a joint industry project (JIP) to develop a standard method for characterising, selecting and qualifying both onshore and offshore CO2 storage sites. The outcomes of the JIP will provide guidance on establishing safe, permanent and cost-effective CO2 storage sites. The JIP is open to new participants until the end of the year. View the press release.

13 November 2008
EC launches Second Strategic Energy Review
The European Commission has today launched its Second Strategic Energy Review – Securing Our Energy Future. This energy package recommends a new strategy aimed at increasing energy solidarity between Member States and including stimulus for investment in low-carbon energy networks. Next steps include the development of a Roadmap towards a 2050 energy policy, as part of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, which includes a Communication on Financing Low Carbon Technologies, covering amongst others, ways to support up to 12 large scale CCS demonstrations plants.
View the Strategic Energy Review and associated documents.

12 November 2008
Australian Coal Association Launches CCS Website
The Australian Coal Association has today launched a new interactive website explaining CCS and the ongoing work of the coal industry to develop technologies that reduce carbon dioxide from coal. View the website www.newgencoal.com.au and press release

10 November 2008
ZEP Publishes Report on EU CCS Demonstration Programme
The European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) at their General Assembly, have today unveiled their proposals for the structure of the EU CCS Demonstration Programme. The report details plans that could accelerate the deployment of CCS in the EU by as much as 10 years, with the aim of achieving commercially viable CCS projects by 2020. The report makes detailed suggestions for a portfolio of CCS projects, covering the full range of CCS technologies and fuel sources as well as geography and geologies across the EU.
View the report and associated documents as well as the General Assembly welcome speech by EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs

6 November 2008
New International Centre for CCS
A new international centre for CCS has today been announced by CCSA member Shell and the Government of Saskatchewan. Known as the International Performance Centre for Geological Storage of CO­2, or IPAC-CO2, it is located at the Canadian University of Regina and aims to help make Canada a world leader in the deployment and acceptance of CCS. More specifically, the centre will focus on a variety of issues such as assessing proposed CCS projects, increasing stakeholder and public awareness of CCS and networking internationally to promote research sharing. View the press release.

20 October 2008
IEA Launches CCS Report
The International Energy Agency today launched its new report 'Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage: A Key Carbon Abatement Option'. The report concludes that CCS could deliver cost effective emissions reductions, but this will not be achieved without the willingness of governments and industry to fund large-scale demonstration projects. The report covers, amongst others, a proposed roadmap for CCS to achieve significant emissions reductions, as well as progress on issues such as the legal and regulatory framework. At the launch of the report Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the IEA, said “The window of opportunity is closing for the global community to cost-effectively address climate change. CCS technologies must play a key role, but first they must be proven in the next decade.”
View the IEA website for further details and to purchase a copy of the report

16 October 2008
Ed Milliband Announces 80% Climate Change Target
In his first statement to the Commons as Secretary of State for the newly formed Department of Energy and Climate Change, Ed Milliband outlined the goals of the new Department stating that despite the economic downturn, the UK would not be retreating from climate change objectives. To emphasise this he announced an amendment to the Climate Change Bill to include an ambitious binding target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He also noted the importance of investment in CCS.
View the DECC press release and full Commons statement.
The Association welcomed the statement with the following press release.

3 October 2008
Government Reshuffle and New Department
The Prime Minster has today completed his reshuffle within Government and has simultaneously created a new Department for Energy & Climate Change, with Ed Miliband MP as the Secretary of State. Other appointments include Mike O'Brien MP and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath both as Ministers of State, Department for Energy & Climate Change and Joan Ruddock MP as Under Secretary of State, Deparment for Energy & Climate Change. View the full list of Cabinet Ministers and the BERR press release on the new department or view the website www.decc.gov.uk.

1 October 2008
Drax Signs Contract with Doosan Babcock for Biomass Co-Firing Systems
CCSA members Drax Power and Doosan Babcock have signed a £10 million Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the latter to supply biomass co-firing systems to all six coal-fired units at the 4GW Drax Power Station in Yorkshire. The installation is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009, and thereby - together with Drax’s existing co-firing capability of 500 MWe of electricity – making the co-firing facility the largest of its type in the world. View the website.

23 September 2008
RWE NPower Announces Completion of CO2 Capture Test Facilities at Didcot
CCSA member RWE npower has announced that new CO2 capture facilities at its Didcot power station will be completed in September 2008. The test facility will allow the company to evaluate the capture of CO2 from flue gases after coal combustion and from oxyfuel firing. In addition, the company said that plans to capture CO2 from a commercially operating plant at Aberthaw in South Wales will begin in 2009. View the full story.

16 September 2008
Scottish Power Investigates North Sea CO2 Storage Potential
A consortium led by CCSA member ScottishPower is investigating the possibility of utilising an aquifier under the North Sea identified as having the potential to store Europe entire CO2 emissions for the next 600 years. The consortium is developing the technical aspects of their CCS power station at Longannet, which was a successful pre-qualifier in the UK CCS Competition. View the full story and the press release.

11 September 2008
EC Launches Call for Tender to Establish CCS Project Network
The European Commission has launched a call for tender to establish and run a network of projects to demonstrate the use of CCS technology in power plants. The selection process should be complete by the beginning of 2009. View the press release.

4 September 2008
Doosan Babcock Gains Right to Use HTC Purenergy’s CCS technology
CCSA member Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd has secured the right to use HTC Purenergy Inc.’s carbon capture and storage technology. This agreement will allow it to participate in large projects both in Europe and the US. View the full story.

29 August 2008
RWE NPower Begins Construction of ’Capture-Ready’ Coal Power Plant in Hamm
RWE npower, a CCSA member, has commenced construction of a new 1,600 MW hard coal power plant in Hamm, Germany. The €2 billion plant is expected to be built ‘capture-ready’ with the potential to retro-fit for post-combustion capture and storage of CO¬2 from 2020. View the full story.

29 August 2008
German RWE Plans IGCC Plant With CCS in Huerth
CCSA member RWE npower plans to build a 450 MW IGCC plant with CCS in Huerth, Germany. It will be fuelled by locally sourced lignite with 90% of CO2 emissions being captured and stored in deep saline formations. The estimated cost of the plant is €2 billion, of which half has already been committed by RWE, and the plant is due to be commissioned by the end of 2014. View the full story.

27 August 2008
StatoilHydro to Start Full Scale CCS Operation in 2014
CCSA member StatoilHydro announced a new 280 MW power plant in Mongstad (currently a research centre), which will capture 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 every year when it begins full scale operation in 2014. View the full story.

20 August 2008
EPSRC Issues Calls on CCS
The Engineering and Physcial Sciences Research Council together with E.ON have today issued a call for multidisciplinary consortia looking into research to develop CCS related to power stations. A maximum of £5m will be available for this call and closing date for applications is the 6th November 2008. View the website for more information.

20 August 2008
MHI Signs Contract with Gassnova
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a CCSA member, has signed a contract to carry out the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies for Gassnova’s planned CCS plant in Norway. The facility is expected to capture 3,000 tonnes of CO2 from an existing 420 MW gas fired power plant in Kårstø. If the FEED study is considered to be qualified, MHI will then take part in the competition to construct the facility. View the full story.

18 August 2008
€40 Million Carbon Capture Research Programme Begins in Norway
Norway has launched a €40 million research and development programme, with the aim of developing more efficient and cost-effective chemical processes for capturing CO2 from process industry and fossil fuel fired power station emissions. SINTEF, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology and CCSA member Aker Clean Coal have all signed up to collaborate on the programme, which will last eight years and operate under the name SOLVit. View the full story.

18 August 2008
Canada’s First Low Carbon IGCC Plant to Use Siemens Coal Gasification Technology
CCSA member Siemens coal gasification technology has been chosen for use in Canada’s first low carbon IGCC power plant. The 250MW plant, planned to be built in Genesee by EPCOR Power Generation is scheduled to come on line in 2015. It is designed to capture around 85% of its CO2 emissions for EOR. View the full story.

15 August 2008
US Department of Energy Announces CCS Funding
As part of its Clean Coal Power Initiative, the US Department of Energy has announced its third round of funding, which is expected to provide up to $340m to selected commercial scale CCS demonstration projects that will commence in 2009. These projects will be run by industry teams and recipients of funding will be required to provide half of the project costs. View the full story.

12 August 2008
US Department of Energy and SWP Begin CO2 Storage Project
The US Department of Energy and the Southwest Regional Partnership (SWP), which includes CCSA members ConocoPhillips, Schlumberger and Shell, have begun a six month demonstration project of injecting CO2 into a coalbed at the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. The project aims to recover methane whilst injecting over 31,000 tonnes of CO2. View the full story.

16 July 2008
US Proposes Rules on CO2 Storage
The Bush administration has set out proposals for new regulations governing the storage of CO2. The regulations, which are likely to be adopted in 2010 or 2011, aim to protect underground sources of water by measures such as extensive testing and site monitoring as well as investigating any CO2 migration and the requirement for sufficient funds to cover the cost of site care, closure and emergency response. View the full story.

10 July 2008
Western Australia Plans Centre for CCS
Plans for a new coal testing and education facility in Collie, Western Australia, are in development. The centre will look at the potential for CCS amongst other research into technologies that emit less greenhouse gases. View the full story.

9 July 2008
G8 Statement on CCS
At the G8 summit held 7-9 July in Hokkaido, Japan, the G8 leaders agreed to "support the launching of 20 large-scale CCS demonstration project globally by 2010". An agreement was also reached to "consider and adopt in the UNFCCC negotiations, the goal of achieving at least 50% reduction of global emissions by 2050".
View the full statement and associated documents.

8 July 2008
Alberta Announces $4bn for Climate Measures
The Government of Alberta today announced a funding amount of $4bn towards their Climate Plan. This includes $2bn along in funding to develop CCS technology.
View the full story.

2 July 2008
IPPR Publishes report on the Future of Coal-Fired Power
The Institute for Public Policy Research have today released their report "After the Coal Rush: Assessing policy options for coal-fired electricity generation" which recommends that the EU should agree a timetable and financing for the goal of 12 CCS demonstration plants by 2015, as well as recommending that the UK should support a second CCS demonstration project and begin planning the infrastructure to transport carbon dioxide to storage in the North Sea.
View the full report and press release.

2 July 2008
Tony Blair Submits Climate Report to G8 Summit
Former Prime Minster Tony Blair published the first Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative report setting out the framework for a new global climate deal. On CCS, the report states that "It will be very challenging, if not impossible, to hit significant abatement targets without CCS".
View the full report.

 

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