EU Ambassador Calls for Further Carbon Sequestration Push

"Coal is such a cheap source of energy that it is unrealistic for us to scrap it in favor of other energy sources," said Ambassador Bruton in a statement. "However, given the damaging environmental effects from coal-fired power stations around the world, we need to step up our efforts to make carbon sequestration a financially viable solution because sequestration removes the damage coal burning otherwise does to the climate."

Ambassador Bruton noted that the so-called cap-and-trade system could make it financially worthwhile for companies to adopt sequestration technology.

"It could bridge the financial gap," said Ambassador Bruton. "If the price per ton of CO2 avoided by utilizing carbon capture and storage technology is lower than the carbon price, then the trading scheme could provide a financial tool to make up the difference between the cheap but heavily polluting conventional coal-fired method and the more expensive but non-polluting carbon sequestration method. Instituting cap-and-trade systems with a price on carbon will be crucial to making carbon capture and storage a commercially viable option for us all."

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