EU Energy Policy Blog

According to the IEA, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies are crucial to cut down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the most ambitious scenario in terms of reduction of GHG emissions (450 scenario ), CCS has a significant role to play and would be implemented worldwide before the end of the 2020′s. Is it realistic to consider CCS technologies, which are still not mature and uncertain, as a major climate change mitigation option?
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The year 2012 has been declared the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All by the UN, and is part of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This is an attempt to raise energy poverty on the international political agenda and to provide opportunities for business, government and civil society to partner for achieving the target of sustainable energy for all by 2030. Three objectives have been highlighted under this initiative, which are to be achieved by 2030: ensuring universal access to energy; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

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For decades energy regulators have focused on means to facilitate access to energy supply in order to meet demand and reduce costs. The emphasis has mainly been on liberalisation and removal of market barriers. However, climate change has emphasised that the balance between energy demand and supply is threatened by another risk: excessively high energy demand brings about significantly negative environmental and economic impacts. This is because if a vast number of users is consuming electricity at the same time, energy suppliers have to activate dirty old power plants with higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher system costs.
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