Harvard / Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture / 2009

This report from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government projected that it will cost a pricey $150 for every ton of CO2 sequestered by first-generation IGCC coal power plants with integrated carbon controls, while capture from future plants will cost $35-70 per ton of CO2.

Greenpeace / Why CCS won’t save the climate / 2008

Greenpeace’s False Hope report posits CCS as a the coal industry’s means of justifying construction of new coal-fired power plants. It argues that the technology is largely unproven and will not be ready in time to save the climate.

IEA /A Key Carbon Abatement Option / 2008

In Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage: A Key Carbon Abatement Option, the International Energy Agency told developed countries they must rapidly invest $20 billion in CCS technology to meet their carbon storage goals. The report’s proposed timeline for CCS development provides a snapshot of key CCS approaches and their challenge.

UCS / Coal Power in a Warming World / 2008

Coal Power in a Warming World, issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists, proposed that the U.S. fund five to 10 full-scale demonstrations of CCS and an immediate halt to construction of coal-fired generators that do not control their carbon emissions.

MIT: The Future of Coal / 2007

This multidisciplinary analysis of coal’s future came to two controversial conclusions: that coal has a future in a carbon-constrained world, and that the cost of capturing CO2 from conventional coal-fired power plants may be comparable to CCS with more advanced gasification-based IGCC power stations.

IPCC Special Report on Carbon Capture and Storage / 2006

The IPCC established the credibility of CCS by concluding that there was “likely” underground capacity for several thousand gigatons of CO2 and, crucially, that 99% of the sequestered carbon would likely stay put for 1000 years. The authors highlight key results in a powerpoint presentation and this summary for policymakers. Full text available via the IPCC website.