Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage

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The Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama in February 2010. The Task Force is to be Co Chaired by representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Obama's memo

In his memorandum Obama stated that the purpose of the Task Force is to "develop a comprehensive and coordinated Federal strategy to speed the commercial development and deployment of clean coal technologies."

"The Task Force shall develop within 180 days of the date of this memorandum a proposed plan to overcome the barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years, with a goal of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects online by 2016. The plan should explore incentives for commercial CCS adoption and address any financial, economic, technological, legal, institutional, social, or other barriers to deployment. The Task Force should consider how best to coordinate existing administrative authorities and programs, including those that build international collaboration on CCS, as well as identify areas where additional administrative authority may be necessary. The Co Chairs shall report progress periodically to the President through the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality," he stated.

(Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Task Force’s plan is scheduled to be presented to the President in August, 2010.)

Limited Public Comment

On its website, the White House's Council on Environmental Quality stated that members of the public could submit a comment on key CCS policy issues until July 2, 2010. However, the council was only interested receiving comments on a narrow range of issues. On its website it stated that "the Task Force asks that you focus your comment on one of the following six issue areas:

1. CO2 Capture: Barriers to the cost-effective capture of CO2 from power plants and industrial facilities.

2. CO2 Storage: Barriers to the underground storage and monitoring of CO2.

3. CO2 Transportation: Barriers to the creation of CO2 transportation infrastructure sufficient to meet the needs of wide-scale :CCS deployment.

4. Regulatory & Legal: Identification of existing legal and regulatory authorities, with a focus on evaluating whether :additional authority is required for commercial deployment of CCS.

5. CCS Deployment Drivers & Incentives: Options for creating incentives for early deployment of CCS.

6. CCS Global Initiatives: Opportunities to coordinate and build upon international collaboration on CCS."

The comments submitted can be viewed on the Council's website.

Public meeting

In early May 2010 the Task Force held a public meeting in Washington D.C. to discuss what it saw as the key issues to be addressed. The proceedings are available online in either video or a transcript.

Presentations included:

• Howard Herzog from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT);
• Jeffrey N. Phillips Senior Program Manager, Electric Power Research Institute on "Barriers to Widespread Deployment of CO2 Capture in the Electric Power Sector";
• Edward Rubin, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University on "Overcoming Barriers to Widespread CCS Deployment";
• Sarah M. Forbes, World Resources Institute on "CO2 Transportation Recommendations for the Interagency CCS Task Force",
• Lisa Beal, Director, Environment and Construction Policy, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America on "CCS Transport: Barriers to Widespread Deployment";
• Peter Lidiak, the Director, Pipelines, American Petroleum Institute on CO2 Transport;
• Ian Duncan, Gulf Coast Carbon Center, University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology on "Geologic CO2 Sequestration: Assuring Safe, Effective, Long-term Storage";
• Gerald R. Hill, Ph.D., SECARB Technical Coordinator, Southern States Energy Board on the "Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership";
• George Peridas, Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council on "Geologic Storage: Needs and Barriers";
• James J. Dooley, Joint Climate Change Research Institute on "Selected Legal and Regulatory Issues Related to the Potential Large Scale Deployment of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Technologies";
• Chiarra Trabucchi, Industrial Economics, Inc. on "Legal and Regulatory Issues: Design Considerations for Financial Risk Management Related to the Deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies";
• Nicholas K. Akins, Executive Vice President - Generation, American Electric Power on "CCS Deployment Drivers and Incentives";
• Mark Brownstein, Deputy Director - Energy Program, Environmental Defense Fund on "CCS Deployment: Search for the Magic Feather"; and
• Dr. Carolyn Fischer, Resources for the Future on "The Role of Technology Policies for CCS in Climate Mitigation".

Membership

In his memorandum, Obama stated that in addition to representatives from DOIE and the EPA, the other members of the Task Force would be nominated by:

• the Secretary of State;
• the Secretary of the Treasury;
• the Attorney General;
• the Secretary of the Interior;
• the Secretary of Agriculture;
• the Secretary of Commerce;
• the Secretary of Labor;
• the Secretary of Transportation;
• the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
• the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
• the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and
• the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Carbon Capture and Storage
• A Comprehensive Federal Strategy on Carbon Capture and Storage

External articles

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