Research Team: Mark de Figueiredo, Howard Herzog, David Reiner, Kenneth Oye
Sponsors: Alliance for Global Sustainability; MIT Carbon Sequestration Initiative
Summary:
Much of the research to date with respect to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide has centered on evaluating its technical and economic potential. These aspects are fairly well defined, and although some questions remain, the path from pilot project to large-scale commercialization seems relatively straightforward. Less attention has been paid to the policy issues associated with carbon dioxide capture and storage. This work focuses on regulatory and legal frameworks that may affect adoption. Specific topics include underground injection regulation, relevant international laws and treaties, property rights, and liability concerns.
Underground Injection Regulation. The US Environmental Protection Agency is required under the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish minimum requirements to prevent underground injection which endangers drinking water sources. EPA regulations created the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program, requiring all underground injections to be authorized by permit or rule and prohibiting certain types of injection that may present an imminent and substantial danger to public health. This work examines the applicability of the current UIC regime to the injection and storage of carbon dioxide.
International Law. On the international level, carbon dioxide capture and storage will be affected by treaties, conventions, and protocols. The Kyoto Protocol is largely silent on a role for carbon dioxide capture and storage and clarification will be needed with respect to its use and accounting in the first Kyoto commitment period and any future periods. The eventual debate over the appropriate role for carbon dioxide capture and storage within the Kyoto framework will be both technical, drawing upon the expected IPCC special report, and political, based on the interests and experiences of the nations negotiating.
In addition, the evolution of carbon dioxide injected into sub-seabed geologic formations will be affected by existing treaties governing the international marine environment, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the London Convention. This project also focuses on the role of regional agreements, including the OSPAR Convention on Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic and EU policies (e.g., EU Trading Scheme and the EU Water Directive ).
Property Rights. The determination of subsurface property rights and ownership of injected carbon dioxide are prerequisites to the adoption of carbon dioxide storage. Important issues include identifying from whom storage rights must be secured, public and private methods of acquiring property rights, and managing the title of injected carbon dioxide. This work looks to analogous activities that confront subsurface ownership issues, including hydrocarbon recovery, natural gas storage, hazardous waste, and water rights.
Liability Concerns. Consideration of long-term environmental, health and safety liability is a key element in assessing the viability of carbon dioxide capture storage. The way in which liability is addressed may have a significant impact on costs and indirectly on public perceptions of geologic storage. If liability costs are significant, organization and investment decisions may be influenced by a desire to externalize liability. This work examines the role of insurance and environmental liability laws that may facilitate risk management and risk reduction.
Publications to date:
de Figueiredo, M.A., "The Liability of Carbon Dioxide Storage," M.I.T. Ph.D. Dissertation, January (2007). <PDF>
de Figueiredo, M.A., H.J. Herzog and D.M. Reiner, "Framing the Long-Term Liability Issue for Geologic Carbon Storage in the United States," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2005) 10: 647–657 Springer (2005). <PDF>
Reiner, D.M. and H.J. Herzog, "Developing a Set of Regulatory Analogs for Carbon Sequestration," Energy, 29(9-10):1561-1570 (2004). <PDF>
