The first round of a European commission contest to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects failed to find a winner, the EU's executive said on Tuesday, deepening concerns that the technology will not be emerging soon to help cut emissions.
CCS developers will be able to resubmit bids for a second round, which environment commissioner Connie Hedegaard said should be concluded within a year. "Within 12 months we will be able to award the second round.
We would like to make a very fast second call, as fast as possible," she told a news conference.
None of the short-listed projects for CCS, which entails trapping and burying carbon emissions from fossil fuel plants, made it to the final selection because of funding gaps or because projects did not sufficiently meet the criteria.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal withdrew its application for a French project, citing technical problems.
"This is a slap in the face for EU climate policy," said Stuart Haszeldine, professor of CCS at Edinburgh University.
The commission has sold 200m carbon allowances for €1.5bn, of which it set aside €275m for CCS projects. This sum which will be carried over to the next bidding round, when some revenues from the sale of a further 100m allowances will be assigned.
The allowances, which trade on the EU emissions trading scheme, each provide generators the right to emit 1 tonne of carbon dioxide.
Hedegaard said on Tuesday she would not speculate on a date for auctioning remaining allowances, saying it would be a technical decision.
CCS is commercially unproven and expensive to build, but governments that seek to curb emissions from the carbon-intensive power industry want it to make a contribution in future.
EU member governments had to confirm to the commission that they could fund 50% of the proposed projects.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects coal to come close to surpassing oil as the world's top energy source by 2017, it said on Tuesday, painting a gloomy picture for the fight against climate change.
"Without progress in CCS, and if other countries cannot replicate the US experience and reduce coal demand, coal faces the risk of a potential climate policy backlash," said Maria van der Hoeven, the IEA's executive director, adding she did not expect CCS to play a role by 2017.
The commission announcement had been expected after reports that there would be no EU funding for CCS projects in any country, including Britain, which had four projects on the commission's shortlist published in July.
Elsewhere, the commission allocated €1.2bn to 23 renewable energy projects on Tuesday, with a Dutch biomass refinery project pocketing the largest amount – nearly €200m.
Other successful projects included solar power, wind and ocean energy. In total, the projects are expected to create around 1,000 permanent jobs for 15 to 20 years.
Two years ago the commission's planned sale of 300m EU emission allowances, dubbed the NER 300, was expected to raise about €4.5bn, but a steep drop in the price of carbon significantly reduced proceeds from the first tranche of 200 EUAs to €1.5bn.
guardian.co.uk
CCS developers will be able to resubmit bids for a second round, which environment commissioner Connie Hedegaard said should be concluded within a year. "Within 12 months we will be able to award the second round.
We would like to make a very fast second call, as fast as possible," she told a news conference.
None of the short-listed projects for CCS, which entails trapping and burying carbon emissions from fossil fuel plants, made it to the final selection because of funding gaps or because projects did not sufficiently meet the criteria.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal withdrew its application for a French project, citing technical problems.
"This is a slap in the face for EU climate policy," said Stuart Haszeldine, professor of CCS at Edinburgh University.
The commission has sold 200m carbon allowances for €1.5bn, of which it set aside €275m for CCS projects. This sum which will be carried over to the next bidding round, when some revenues from the sale of a further 100m allowances will be assigned.
The allowances, which trade on the EU emissions trading scheme, each provide generators the right to emit 1 tonne of carbon dioxide.
Hedegaard said on Tuesday she would not speculate on a date for auctioning remaining allowances, saying it would be a technical decision.
CCS is commercially unproven and expensive to build, but governments that seek to curb emissions from the carbon-intensive power industry want it to make a contribution in future.
EU member governments had to confirm to the commission that they could fund 50% of the proposed projects.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects coal to come close to surpassing oil as the world's top energy source by 2017, it said on Tuesday, painting a gloomy picture for the fight against climate change.
"Without progress in CCS, and if other countries cannot replicate the US experience and reduce coal demand, coal faces the risk of a potential climate policy backlash," said Maria van der Hoeven, the IEA's executive director, adding she did not expect CCS to play a role by 2017.
The commission announcement had been expected after reports that there would be no EU funding for CCS projects in any country, including Britain, which had four projects on the commission's shortlist published in July.
Elsewhere, the commission allocated €1.2bn to 23 renewable energy projects on Tuesday, with a Dutch biomass refinery project pocketing the largest amount – nearly €200m.
Other successful projects included solar power, wind and ocean energy. In total, the projects are expected to create around 1,000 permanent jobs for 15 to 20 years.
Two years ago the commission's planned sale of 300m EU emission allowances, dubbed the NER 300, was expected to raise about €4.5bn, but a steep drop in the price of carbon significantly reduced proceeds from the first tranche of 200 EUAs to €1.5bn.
guardian.co.uk
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