Making Carbon a Commodity: The Potential of Carbon Capture RD&D
The Carbon Utilization Research Council and ClearPath Foundation, with support from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the United Mine Workers of America, undertook an effort to study the potential for market-driven deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies for coal and natural gas power plants in a report entitled "Making Carbon a Commodity: The Potential of Carbon Capture RD&D."
In particular, the report examines how reducing the cost of carbon capture via a rigorous research, development and deployment (RD&D) program can enable new coal and natural gas power projects with carbon capture for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and quantifies the resulting economic and employment benefits to the United States.
Under evaluated scenarios, an accelerated RD&D program enables market-driven deployment of 62 to 87 GW with carbon capture technologies without any additional environmental regulations or mandates. By 2040, power-sector carbon capture can enable over 920 million barrels of additional domestic oil production each year, with the increased oil activity supporting up to 780,000 jobs and a $190 billion increase in gross domestic product (GDP). Lower-cost power produced via the RD&D effort reduced the national retail cost of electricity up to 2.0% by 2040, which is expected to increase GDP an approximate $55+ billion and create another 380,000+ jobs economy-wide. Projections vary based on key input assumptions, such as power demand growth and fuel prices.
Analyses were conducted by three groups: (1) An evaluation of carbon-utilization potential in five major EOR regions by Advanced Resources International, Inc. (ARI); (2) Simulations of the U.S. electricity sector by NERA Economic Consulting (NERA) using their NewERA Electricity Sector Model (NewERA); and (3) Preparation of this report, coordination of the ARI and NERA work-streams and calculation of the macro-economic benefits associated with lower-cost electricity by L.D. Carter.
##
Click here to view the full report.
Click here to view a brief, one-page summary.
Click here to view the CURC-ClearPath press release.