Limits of Carbon Capture and Storage in combating climate change

The report, which studies the options for capturing CO2 from fossilfuel and storing or disposing of it under the ground or oceans, wasformally accepted at a meeting of Working Group III of the IPCC inMontreal on 24 September (1).

"This report confirms what we already suspected' said GreenpeaceGermany Climate and Energy Campaigner Gabriela von Goerne. "There arestill far too many questions about environmental risk, safety and costsfor CCS to be deployed on a scale that would make it economicallyviable"

"It will simply not be ready in time to provide us with the huge nearterm emissions cuts that we need in order to avoid catastrophic climatechange"

The report found that the most effective use of CCS could be in theelectricity sector but that this technology would likely only bedeployed at a large scale in the second half of this century.

"It seems ironic that this technology, which is so frequently promotedby some governments and industries as part of a 'voluntary' package toreplace the Kyoto Protocol, can only succeed within a mandatory 'capand trade' regime that would keep the price of carbon high" said vonGoerne.

"CCS might be an option in the future when all the questions have beenanswered and problems ironed out but there is an urgent need forimmediate action. That action should be the massive and widespreaddeployment of available renewable energy and energy efficiencytechnologies combined with energy conservation," she added.

Other contacts: Dr. Gabriela von Goerne, Greenpeace Germany Climate and Energy Campaigne (one of the Report's authors) +49-1718780839Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace International Policy Advisor +31-65350-4715Stephanie Tummore, Stephanie Tunmore, Greenpeace International Policy Advisor (in Montreal), + 44-7796947451

Notes: (1) Formal approval on Monday morning by the full IPCC Plenary in Montreal.

Exp. contact date: 2005-09-30 00:00:00