Carbon Storage Projects Expanded in 2010 Despite Tough Economy

Twenty-one new carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects were launched worldwide in 2010, despite rising technology costs, according to a new report by Australia’s Global CCS Institute. That growth represented a 10 percent increase from the previous year, and bumped the total number of projects active or planned worldwide to 234. Of the 77 fully integrated, large-scale projects — all still in the experimental stage — 39 are in the United States and 21 in Europe, according to the report, “The Global Status of CCS: 2010.” Five large-scale, state-funded demonstration plants also are being developed in China. Worldwide, government support for the experimental technology increased in 2010, the report says, when $40 billion was spent, with most of that money going to 25 individual projects. However, another 22 projects were either shelved or canceled worldwide because of global economic conditions and rising technology costs. In Australia, officials recently approved the Gorgon CO2 Injection Project, which will be the largest carbon storage project in the world.