International Energy Agency Report Released: Technology Roadmap: Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) "an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 28 member countries and beyond," released a new report titled, Technology Roadmap: Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry (2013). The 56-page report is available here; according to the abstract:

[t]he Indian cement industry is one of the most efficient in the world. Its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by adopting the best available technologies and environmental practices are reflected in the achievement of reducing total CO₂ emissions to an industrial average of 0.719 tCO₂/t cement in 2010 from a substantially higher level of 1.12 tCO₂/t cement in 1996. However, because the manufacturing process relies on the burning of limestone, it still produced 137 MtCO₂ in 2010 – approximately 7% of India’s total man-made CO₂ emissions.

 

Yet opportunity for improvement exists, particularly in relation to five key levers that can contribute to emissions reductions: alternative fuel and raw materials; energy efficiency; clinker substitution; waste heat recovery and newer technologies. This roadmap sets out one pathway by which the Indian cement industry can reach its targets to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO₂ emissions by 2050, thereby laying the foundation for low-carbon growth in the years beyond.

 

The Technology Roadmap: Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry builds on the global IEA technology roadmap for the cement sector developed by the IEA and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Cement Sustainability Initiative. It outlines a possible transition path for the Indian cement industry to reduce its direct CO₂ emissions intensity to 0.35 tCO₂/t cement and support the global goal of halving CO2 emissions by 2050.

International Energy Agency Report Released: Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) "an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 28 member countries and beyond," released a new report titled, Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives (2013). The 211-page report is available here, according to the abstract:

[t]he five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have announced ambitious goals towards decarbonising their energy systems by 2050. Based on the scenarios and analysis of Energy Technology Perspectives 2012, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and leading Nordic research institutions jointly assess how the Nordic region can achieve a carbon-neutral energy system by 2050.

 

To achieve ambitious 2050 goal, Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives, the first regional edition of the series, details how countries can decarbonise power sector and electrify transport. The report lists best ways to reduce emissions and offers important lessons for other countries by expanding on the Energy Technology Perspectives 2012 global scenarios for energy policies that would limit average global temperature increase to 2°C.

Without doubt, the Nordic countries are front-runners in taking decisive action toward clear, long-term energy targets. In examining their approach, the Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives aims to provide objective analysis that will increase the Nordic region’s chances of success. A secondary – but ultimately more important – aim is to prompt other countries and regions to follow their lead.

Carbon capture and Storage Country Attractiveness Index -- Ernst & Young

The Ernst & Young Carbon capture and storage country attractiveness index provides scores for national energy markets, energy infrastructures and their suitability for CCS technologies. The index provides scores out of 100 and is updated on a regular basis. The methodology is based on the long running Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index.

The long-term CCS index considers structural aspects of the energy market in each country which will impact on large-scale CCS deployment beyond 2015, such as the proportion of coalfired generation and proximity to geological storage. The nearterm CCS index takes a view until 2015 on the attractiveness of investing in CCS demonstration projects.

FRAMEWORK FOR GEOLOGICAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION ON PUBLIC LAND

This Report to Congress submitted to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate by U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in Consultation with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Compliance with Section 714 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140, H.R.6) finds:

First, a proposed regulatory framework must recognize carbon dioxide (CO2) as a commodity, resource, contaminant, waste, or pollutant.

Second, carbon sequestration may potentially conflict with other land uses including existing and future mines, oil and gas fields, coal resources, geothermal fields, and drinking water sources.

Third, a proposed statutory and regulatory framework must recognize the long-term liability of any permitting decision to sequester CO2 and the required commitment for stewardship of facilities over an extended period of time. The scope of liability and term of stewardship will be among the longest ever attempted, lasting up to thousands of years or more.

And lastly, geological carbon sequestration on split estate lands or lands where the surface is managed by other Federal agencies presents other complications due to ownership issues of pore space and limitations that may need to be placed on surface and subsurface uses to ensure integrity of storage.

Storage of Captured Carbon Dioxide Beneath Federal Lands

This Report (DOE/NETL-2009/1358) dated May 8, 2009 by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory examines the potential for CO2 storage under federal lands. The reports finds that the storage resource beneath Federal lands ranges between 126 and 375 billion metric tons. The vast majority of Federal lands are west of the Mississippi. Of the estimated storage potential beneath Federal land in the United States, 68 percent can be found in the stratigraphy of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.

The single most important challenge to utilizing Federal lands for storage of captured CO2 is regulatory. Experience from oil and gas operations provides an important guide and basis for development of regulations and procedures for CO2 storage operations. A regulatory framework will help to define expectations for the operator, regulator, and insurer. The EPA and the states of Washington and Wyoming have provided an important yet only initial effort in the regulatory arena.