carbon capture

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The announcement underscores the continued focus on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage in UK energy policy in recent years.

By JP Brisson, Paul A. Davies, JP Sweny, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 6 July 2022, the UK government introduced the Energy Security Bill (the Bill) to Parliament, which contained a number of provisions in relation to the proposed future energy landscape in the UK. A key aspect of the Bill is its focus on low carbon energy, in particular the roles of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technologies and the creation of hydrogen using carbon dioxide captured from the CCUS process (otherwise known as “blue” hydrogen).

The guidance sends a signal that carbon capture and sequestration remains a focus of the current administration’s decarbonization efforts.

By Janice Schneider, Nikki Buffa, Josh Bledsoe, Nathaniel Glynn, and Kevin Homrighausen

On June 8, 2022, the US Department of the Interior’s (Interior) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued new guidance[1] that outlines the use of federal public lands for geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). This widely anticipated guidance updates previous interim guidance on exploration and site characterization for CO2 sequestration that BLM issued in 2012.

CCUS and clean hydrogen will play a significant role in the Administration’s efforts to address hard-to-decarbonize industries to promote clean US manufacturing.

By Janice Schneider, Nikki Buffa, and Kevin Homrighausen

On February 15, 2022, the White House announced important actions in furtherance of the Biden Administration’s broader decarbonization goals — this time with an eye toward clean domestic manufacturing. Framing the rollout, the White House released a fact sheet highlighting the Administration’s efforts for a “Cleaner Industrial Sector to Reduce Emissions and Reinvigorate American Manufacturing,” including “Buy Clean,” hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) announcements.

These efforts include kicking off multibillion-dollar hydrogen funding opportunities provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) and new draft guidance from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) titled Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Guidance to assist federal agencies with the regulation and permitting of CCUS projects.

As more companies jockey for position and federal funding on both clean hydrogen and CCUS, the announcements are timed to provide critical guidance on these emerging areas of opportunity.

Non-governmental organizations release new studies and reports on new developments in carbon capture, usage, and storage technology.

By Jean-Philippe Brisson, Christopher G. Cross, Paul J. Hunt, Eli M. Katz, Joshua T. Bledsoe, Benjamin W. Einhouse, and Taylor R. West

At the 25th annual Conference of Parties (COP 25) United Nations Climate Summit, held in December 2019 in Madrid, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups submitted reports and studies on the latest developments in environmental technology. Several organizations, including the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum, the Global CCS Institute, and the National Petroleum Council of the United States, submitted reports on the use and future development of carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Innovation for Cool Earth Forum

The Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF), an organization that organizes an annual conference hosted by Japan’s Prime Minister that brings international leaders together to tackle climate change, published a roadmap for Industrial Heat Decarbonization in December 2019 (the Roadmap).[i] The Roadmap outlines how the use of industrial heat must be changed to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, specifically discussing the issue of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Roadmap further notes that industrial heat is particularly important due to the fact that roughly 10% of all GHG emissions come from industrial heat production. The Roadmap discusses the use of heat in a variety of industries, including cement, iron, and steel, as well as chemical production. Generally, the Roadmap discusses solutions that include the use of low-carbon energy sources such as hydrogen combustion and biomass burning, and electrical sources such as resistance heating, microwaves, induction, and electric arc furnaces. Moreover, the Roadmap discusses the role of CCUS in reducing the carbon produced in the creation of industrial heat.

By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Kimberly D. Farbota

On September 27, 2018, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed Resolution 18-34, extending the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Program to 2030 and making significant changes to the design and implementation of the Program. This blog outlines seven takeaways for market participants and stakeholders.

1. CARB Appears Committed to the LCFS

While California’s Cap-and-Trade Program attracts the lion’s share of attention in the trade press, CARB may view the LCFS as an equally important greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction measure. According to CARB, the Cap-and-Trade Program’s traditional role in the state’s overarching scheme has been to backstop GHG reductions, not drive them. Under this interpretation, the Cap-and-Trade Program has acted as an insurance policy guaranteeing the state’s GHG emissions reduction trajectory via operation of the program’s hard cap in the event that other, more direct emissions reduction measures fail to achieve expected reductions (e.g., the Renewables Portfolio Standard, Advanced Clean Car Standards, Title 24 Energy Efficiency Standards, the LCFS, etc.).

By Michael J. Gergen, Joshua T. Bledsoe, David E. Pettit and Tara L. Rice

President Obama recently announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Program Office (LPO) is expanding support for innovative “distributed energy projects” by adding $1 billion in available loan guarantees to support the deployment of these projects through the existing solicitations for Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects and Advanced Fossil Energy Projects.  Eligible projects could include energy storage, smart grid technologies, cogeneration and methane capture for oil and natural gas wells, as well as roof-top solar and energy efficiency technologies that meet certain “innovation” requirements. For example, roof-top solar projects that are combined with storage may be eligible.

The LPO also is targeting distributed energy developers with special supplements to these two pending solicitations that make clear that existing program authority under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and resources may be used to accelerate the deployment of distributed energy projects. The credit enhancement available through DOE’s LPO traditionally has been used to support utility-scale energy projects. In recognition of the important role of distributed energy in the future of US energy markets, the LPO is making a concerted effort to marshal program resources to support innovation in this growing segment.

By Claudia M. O’Brien and Marc T. Campopiano

The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized two guidance documents for Class VI wells used for long-term carbon capture and sequestration (CCS): the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program Class VI Well Area of Review Evaluation and Corrective Action Guidance and the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program Class VI Well Site Characterization Guidance. EPA also released a draft guidance entitled Draft Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program Guidance on Class VI Well Plugging, Post-Injection Site Care, and Site Closure.

By Michael Feeley and Aron Potash

A lawsuit which delayed and once threatened to dismantle California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) cap and trade scheme was largely resolved last week, removing one roadblock to California’s plan to be the first state to impose an economy-wide GHG trading program.  Under modified regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on October 20, 2011, California will require certain emitters of GHGs to obtain allowances or offsets in amounts commensurate to their respective emissions…