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Technology Collaboration Programme by IEA

Criteria for Technical and Economic Assessment with Low CO₂ Emissions

John Davison

Citation: IEAGHG, "Criteria for Technical and Economic Assessment with Low CO₂ Emissions", 2009-TR3, May 2009.

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Publication Overview

The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEA GHG) undertakes studies to assess technologies for abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. IEA GHG has concentrated on CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) applied to power generation but it has also assessed CCS in other industries and will compare the relative merits of CCS and alternative greenhouse gas abatement options. Soon after IEA GHG started operation in 1991 it produced a set of standard technical and economic criteria for assessment of power plants with capture to ensure that its studies are undertaken on a consistent basis, as far as possible. These criteria have continued to be used since then, with some minor modifications.

Publication Summary

IEA GHG has produced a revised set of criteria for assessment of plants, particularly power plants with CO₂ capture, making use of information from EPRI and others. The revised criteria should be used by IEA GHG for its future studies. Other organisations are encouraged to use the criteria to provide consistency of results. Preliminary criteria have been specified for alternative locations and these should be finalised with local organisations at the time when IEA GHG undertakes its first study for each alternative location. Other alternative locations could be considered in future, at the request of IEA GHG’s members. As a follow on to this report IEA GHG will assess the feasibility of providing standard assessment criteria for CO₂ transport and storage and it will develop methodologies for comparing the relative merits of CCS and alternative low-CO₂ technologies.

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