Welcome to NACCSA's Media Center. Here you will find all the latest news concerning the association’s work, our members and other interesting developments in carbon capture and storage.

Although the financial crisis continues to dominate public debate (as it should), energy will remain one of the paramount legislative priorities for the new Congress. Whether you staff your boss on diligent development, offshore drilling, royalties, regulatory reform, oil shale, American workforce shortages, or world energy markets, a more complete understanding of the fundamentals of finding and producing petroleum can be an enormous benefit when the debate in the 111th Congress returns again to energy.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources invites you to a 5-part briefing series aimed at examining issues surrounding the science of oil and gas exploration and development. These once-a-week briefings, lasting about an hour, will be held on Fridays in the ENR Committee hearing room, SD-366, from 10-11am. Read more.

The Center for American Progress (CAP) has released a report for the new administration that provides recommendations on how to handle economic, domestic and national security policy issues. One of the issues CAP addresses is how to build a low-carbon economy. The report says, “climate change within our lifetimes will create profound disruptions in every area: health of the environment, economic prosperity, public welfare, and national security.”

In order to combat climate change CAP recommends three policy initiatives. The first initiative would be to demonstrate immediate leadership through the executive branch by “taking measures to coordinate U.S. climate and energy policy across all federal agencies, and using executive orders, public communications, and other presidential prerogatives to manage carbon, capture energy savings, and promote renewable technologies.” CAP recommends that this be done through the formation of a National Energy Council. The second recommended initiative is for the Obama Administration to work with Congress to pass climate change legislation, such as a cap-and-trade bill, as well as other legislation that promotes investments in clean energy. The third initiative would be to reestablish the United States as a leader in international climate talks.

CAP also recommends the use of executive orders for such things as analyzing greenhouse gas emissions as a prerequisite to NEPA compliance. Executive Orders could also be used, for instance, to grant waivers to states, such as California, that look to regulate emissions of GHGs from vehicles.

CAP addresses CCS by saying that a “requirement[] to capture and store carbon in coal-fired power plants” is one of the complimentary policies to any global warming legislation. They go on to say, “Coal can play an important and productive role in our energy mix, but the government and private sectors must collaborate on a full-scale “Manhattan Project” to achieve dramatic breakthroughs in carbon capture-and-storage technology.”

The World Resources Institute (WRI) has released a report entitled “Guidelines for Carbon Dioxide Capture, Transport and Storage.” Among some of the highlights in the report, WRI believes that U.S. policymakers should provide some regulatory flexibility to plants that install CCS technologies until the technology is commercially proven.

With regard to the the storage of carbon dioxide, the report believes that the operators of storage sites should be given flexibility when choosing monitoring techniques as long as they meet state requirements. Risk assessments are also called for to analyze the potential of CO2 leakage from storage sites over the life of a project. The sites that are deemed to have a smaller chance of leakage will be given priority for projects.

The WRI suggests that there be five to ten at-scale CCS demonstration projects built in
the U.S.

Appendixes B, C, and D at the end of the document outline the guidelines for policymakers, regulators and project developers and operators.

The North American Carbon Capture & Storage Association (NACCSA) is pleased to announce the launching of its Web site. The Web site will be dedicated to information about NACCSA and the latest developments and information pertaining to CCS technology. To learn more about NACCSA and how to become a member, please contact:

Kipp Coddington, Esq.
Alston & Bird LLP
The Atlantic Building
950 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1404
Phone: 202-756-3300
Fax: 202-756-3333
kipp.coddington@naccsa.com