Coal is an important source of primary energy in the world and in many developing countries, the demand for it continues to grow rapidly, as they are experiencing a long-awaited period of economic growth. For 50 years, from 2000 to 2050 – the demand for coal is expected to double, exceeding 7 000 million tonnes of oil equivalent and accounting for 28% of the world's supply of primary energy, compared with 25% today.
Coal consumption can be reduced significantly by carrying out an active environmental policy — after all, he is the most carbon-containing fuel. However, due to the abundance of coal reserves, in the future there will be a tendency to use this resource for reasons of energy security and economic feasibility. Improving the environmental performance of coal use is a key determinant of its role in the energy mix of the future.
In particular, the group of technologies for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) can accurately align the tasks in the sphere of energy supply security, economic development and environmental sustainability, which sometimes compete with each other. Recent studies by the IEA show that CO2 emissions can be reduced by 32 billion tons by 2050 compared with the baseline scenario assuming accelerated implementation of a number of low-carbon technologies and measures to increase the efficiency of energy use (IEA, 2006a). 20% of this reduction is achieved through CCS, while 10% is the result of the application of CCS technologies at coal-fired power plants. CCS are an important component of any strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change.
I welcome the participation of enterprises in the industry ugolnoy in an increasing of kolichestvennom, partnerships and programs whose purpose is the development and demonstration of CCS technologies at the scale appropriate for industrial use. Large-scale trials of CO2 capture technologies are an important step, but it is not enough. We know that storage of CO2 requires more experience and confidence. In order for CCS technology has had the impact that is predicted in our analysis, by 2050 their application should grow to the size of a modern gas industry.
For those who are willing to invest in technology that today is quite expensive, there must be an attractive level of profitability. This report contains the ideas of coal industry representatives about incentives that can facilitate the commercial deployment of CCS technologies. I'm glad to see that the Advisory Board the IEA coal industry took this initiative, and I urge policy-makers to consider carefully the many recommendations and applying them, to create conditions for early demonstrations of these technologies.
Nobuo Tanaka
Executive Director
The international energy Agency
Source: http://www.iea.org/media/translations/russian/clean_coal_rus.pdf
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