A trust fund approach to accelerating deployment of CCS: options and considerations
The paper discusses one possible avenue to accelerate deployment of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies: use of a special-purpose CCS Trust Fund. A CCS Trust Fund financed, for example, through fees on coal-based or fossil fuel-based electricity generation may have a role in reducing CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants because it could: raise funds at the scale needed to support a significant number (e.g., 10 to 30) of commercial-scale CCS projects; ensure that the funds raised would be used to demonstrate CCS at commercial scale for a full range of systems applicable to U.S. power plants; establish the true costs, reliability, and operability of power plants with CCS; utilize private-sector business standards for project selection and management to ensure program cost effectiveness; and significantly reduce CCS costs within 10 to 15 years by supporting approximately 30 demonstrations, yielding substantial national economic benefits as CCS becomes widely deployed. The United States has considerable experience with trust funds. While no single existing fund illustrates all the features that might be desirable for a CCS Trust Fund, lessons from prior U.S. experience can be used to design an effective, efficient mechanism for advancing commercial-scale deployment of CCS. In particular, experience has indicated the importance of financial self-sufficiency, private-sector management standards, insulation from the annual Congressional appropriations process, and termination upon completion of objectives. Carefully crafted enabling legislation and, most likely, use of a quasi-public or private entity to manage a CCS Trust Fund will be needed to incorporate these and other desirable features. 25 refs., 1 tab., 1 app.
- Research Organization:
- Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21084861
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Coal Initiative Reports White Paper Series
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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