Oct 02 - Charleston Gazette, The

Read the GAO report at www.gao.gov/new.items/ d081080.pdf

Federal policy-makers have taken few of the steps necessary if greenhouse emissions from coal-fired power plants are to be captured and stored underground, according to a new government report.

Coal industry backers are banking that "carbon capture and storage" will allow the industry to survive efforts to control global climate change.

But the U.S. Government Accountability Project report, released this week, adds to growing concerns that the technology isn't ready now - and might not be for a long time.

GAO investigators cited underdeveloped and costly emissions- capture technology and legal uncertainties about the permitting and liability for carbon dioxide that would be stored underground. National studies, industry leaders and top scientists have all pointed to key problems with CCS becoming a reality, the GAO noted.

"Federal agencies have begun to address some CCS barriers but have yet to comprehensively address the full range of issues that would require resolution for commercial-scale CCS deployment," the GAO said in a 69-page study made public Tuesday.

GAO officials also concluded that widespread deployment of CCS is unlikely to happen unless Congress passes binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions.

"The absence of a national strategy to control CO2 emissions not only leaves the regulated community with little incentive to reduce their emissions, it also leaves regulators with little reason to devise the practical arrangements necessary to implement the reductions," the GAO report said.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about finding a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while dealing with increasing worldwide demand for energy. Despite this concern, atmospheric concentrations carbon dioxide and emissions of the heat- trapping gas continue to increase.

Last week, international researchers reported that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 3 percent between 2006 and 2007. Greenhouse emissions have grown four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade, according to a report from scientists with the Global Carbon Project.

Scientists believe that the greenhouse effect has already increased global temperatures by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since the start of the 20th century. Temperatures are expected to rise another 2 degrees, and perhaps as much as 11 degrees, over the next 100 years.

This warming will cause significant changes in sea level, ecosystems, and ice cover, among other impacts, the GAO noted in its new report.

Coal-fired power plants are among the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. In the United States, coal plants account for about one-third of total CO2 emissions.

In the U.S., coal provides about half of the nation's electricity. And because it is abundant and cheap - when environmental factors are not considered - coal is growing as an energy source in China, India and other parts of the developing world.

Both the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have cited CCS as a promising route for continued coal use, while mitigating carbon dioxide emissions.

But the GAO outlined a variety of major hurdles that U.S. government agencies are doing little to overcome:

* Department of Energy research has focused on capturing emissions from coal gasification plants, instead of using CCS on existing, traditional coal plants that are likely to remain in service for years.

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not issued guidance for how federal waste disposal laws would apply to CCS, or how the Clean Air Act applies to power plants that install the technology.

* Other agencies, including the Transportation and Interior departments, have not addressed other important issues, such as a regulatory regimen for CO2 transportation pipelines and other infrastructure, and liability for any storage under public lands.

GAO officials also found significant barriers in terms of cost and the lack of any large-scale demonstrations that CCS works.

In addition, CCS requires huge amounts of energy itself, meaning that the process sucks electricity away from any power plant where it is installed. One DOE study estimated that CCS could nearly double the retail cost of electricity.

GAO officials prepared their report at the request of Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"If carbon sequestration technologies are going to get off - and into - the ground, we must have national limits on global warming pollution and an administration dedicated to promoting climate- friendly technologies," Markey said. "Solving coal's climate conundrum is as vital as any challenge we face in battling global warming, and half-measures just won't cut it."

Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have pledged their support for improving government "clean coal" programs.

Obama says he would instruct DOE to start partnerships with private industry to build five commercial-scale CCS projects. McCain says he would pump $2 billion a year into "clean coal" research.

But the candidates have not spelled out how they would deal with the myriad CCS problems outlined by the GAO. Neither campaign has responded to detailed questions on the topic.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com or 348-1702.

Originally published by Staff writer.

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