ABSTRACT
Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise in attention within climate and energy policy circles since about 2003–2004 in both individual industrialised countries and, to some extent, globally. This has been reflected, and may be to some extent stimulated, by the growth in attention devoted to CCS by the specialised media. Prior to 2000, CCS was a fairly esoteric subject and received relatively little funding in comparison with alternative, carbon-mitigating energy-generation technologies. A variety of indicators can be used to measure the shift in attention since that time, including publications in popular and specialist media, mentions in government speeches, changes in R&D funding levels, as well as new policies and regulatory measures. Such indicators reveal that while attention to CCS on the whole has been rising, key developments (or a lack thereof) since 2008 also show an increasing lack of confidence that the technology will deliver on CO2 mitigation hopes, within the timeframe proposed by policymakers. This is, to some extent, linked to the failure to generate a strong commitment to global carbon mitigation and technology transfer through the UNFCCC during recent Conferences of the Parties in 2009 and 2010 (COP-15 in Copenhagen and COP-16 in Cancun, respectively). Spokespersons such as Jeff Chapman, Chief Executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), have also noted the lack of commitment, following an encouraging start, towards CCS in recent years:
CCS has not been advancing as quickly as it needs to. CCS technology is proven, but the policy and incentives framework is uncertain. … Without greater certainty, investors, backed by pension funds and global money markets that will finance CCS, [it] will not deliver.
(Chapman 2011a)