| In the UK, the Department of Energy
and Climate Change (DECC) has published details of how it will
license the storage of carbon dioxide under the seabed in a
response to industry comments on its recent proposal for carbon
storage schemes.
According to the details published,
licensing of carbon storage activities will be in conjunction
with The Crown Estate and follow largely the pattern set for
offshore oil and gas exploration. Only licensed entities will
be issued with a permit to operate storage facilities.
“Carbon capture and storage is essential for mitigating climate
change while maintaining energy security," said energy
minister Charles Hendry in a
statement. “There is enough potential under the North
Sea to store more than 100 years-worth of carbon dioxide emissions
from the UK’s power fleet and we need to make the most of
that.”
A licence would cover exploration and appraisal, operation
and post-closure and would convey an exclusive - but time-limited
- right to apply for the storage permit required by the EC
Directive on carbon storage (2009/31/EC),
which came into force on 25 June 2009.
DECC envisages that its licences will refer to an essentially
two-dimensional plan, authorising the relevant activities
within that area and its downward projection, in the same
way as the established petroleum licences. However, the storage
permit, when issued, will contain three-dimensional definitions
of the storage site and the storage complex.
The initial agreement for lease issued by The Crown Estate
will relate to the same area as the licence and the subsequent
lease will incorporate the same definition of the site as
that in the permit.
Non-intrusive exploration can be conducted under a general
non-site specific licence issued by DECC, which applies throughout
the UK offshore area and allows non-intrusive investigation
as well as drilling to a depth of 350m.
However, once a developer has identified a specific site
to explore in greater detail, a carbon storage licence will
be required. At this stage, it will also be necessary to obtain
property access rights from TCE to enable intrusive exploration
and to enable test injection where necessary.
DECC is keen that the regulatory regime for storage does
not slow the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS)
and will lay the regulations before parliament as soon as
possible.
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