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Title: A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems

Abstract

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is increasingly seen as a way for society to enjoy the benefits of fossil fuel energy sources while avoiding the climate disruption associated with fossil CO2 emissions. A decision to deploy CCS technology at scale should be based on robust information on its overall costs and benefits. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for holistic assessment of the energy and environmental footprint of a system, and can provide crucial information to policy-makers, scientists, and engineers as they develop and deploy CCS systems. We identify seven key issues that should be considered to ensure that conclusions and recommendations from CCS LCA are robust: energy penalty, functional units, scale-up challenges, non-climate environmental impacts, uncertainty management, policy-making needs, and market effects. Several recent life-cycle studies have focused on detailed assessments of individual CCS technologies and applications. While such studies provide important data and information on technology performance, such case-specific data are inadequate to fully inform the decision making process. LCA should aim to describe the system-wide environmental implications of CCS deployment at scale, rather than a narrow analysis of technological performance of individual power plants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1211041
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Energy (Oxford)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 37; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0360-5442
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Sathre, R, Chester, M, Cain, J, and Masanet, E. A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2011.10.050.
Sathre, R, Chester, M, Cain, J, & Masanet, E. A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.10.050
Sathre, R, Chester, M, Cain, J, and Masanet, E. 2012. "A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.10.050.
@article{osti_1211041,
title = {A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems},
author = {Sathre, R and Chester, M and Cain, J and Masanet, E},
abstractNote = {Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is increasingly seen as a way for society to enjoy the benefits of fossil fuel energy sources while avoiding the climate disruption associated with fossil CO2 emissions. A decision to deploy CCS technology at scale should be based on robust information on its overall costs and benefits. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for holistic assessment of the energy and environmental footprint of a system, and can provide crucial information to policy-makers, scientists, and engineers as they develop and deploy CCS systems. We identify seven key issues that should be considered to ensure that conclusions and recommendations from CCS LCA are robust: energy penalty, functional units, scale-up challenges, non-climate environmental impacts, uncertainty management, policy-making needs, and market effects. Several recent life-cycle studies have focused on detailed assessments of individual CCS technologies and applications. While such studies provide important data and information on technology performance, such case-specific data are inadequate to fully inform the decision making process. LCA should aim to describe the system-wide environmental implications of CCS deployment at scale, rather than a narrow analysis of technological performance of individual power plants. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.},
doi = {10.1016/j.energy.2011.10.050},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1211041}, journal = {Energy (Oxford)},
issn = {0360-5442},
number = 1,
volume = 37,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012},
month = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012}
}