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An advisory panel Dec. 15 outlined broad policy recommendations to facilitate geologic carbon capture and storage in California. The recommendations call for legislation that would establish a fee-based regulatory program. The action comes as one power plant that would capture and store carbon in a Kern County oil field is proceeding through the licensing process at the California Energy Commission. It’s known as the Hydrogen Energy California Power Plant. At its final meeting this week, the state Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel--which includes energy industry executives, academic scientists, and other experts--also urged the California Air Resources Board to make carbon capture and storage projects eligible for greenhouse gas offsets under its carbon cap-and-trade program. To further bolster the emerging technology, the panel highlighted the need for the state to develop clear-cut regulations for projects. The group called for the state to place the Energy Commission in charge of permitting projects under a fee-based system. Once built, the panel suggested that either the California Public Utilities Commission or State Fire Marshall be in charge of regulating pipelines that carry carbon dioxide from power plants to underground injection wells. The panel also called on the state to designate a lead agency for regulating post-closure operations, once projects have shut down. To streamline project siting, the group promoted legislative action to establish the power of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines operated by public utilities and also law that clarifies who owns the underground “pore space” in which carbon dioxide is stored. That legislation should make sure land owners are “justly compensated” for use of their land related to carbon capture and storage projects. The group suggested the state should work with the federal government to develop a program to prevent “long-term risk of accidental carbon dioxide releases.” It said that the program should make sure at least 99 percent of the injected carbon dioxide stays underground. Should injected carbon dioxide leak or contaminate groundwater, project developers should be liable in the absence or any other state or federal standards. * * * * * A federal appellate court won’t stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from implementing its greenhouse gas emission regulations directed at power plants and other large sources of industrial climate change gases. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Dec. 10 rejected requests from utilities, oil refiners, and others to block the rules, which go into effect Jan. 2, 2011. Clean air advocates welcomed the decision. “EPA’s rules protect the public and the economy by requiring careful measures to control climate-disruption pollution from the biggest smokestack industries and by working with automakers to increase fuel efficiency and to cut vehicle emissions,” Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director, stated. The rule was issued June 3 pursuant to the Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. It’s known as the Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule. A partial stay was sought on cost grounds. The trio of district appellate judges found that the “petitioners have not shown that the harms they allege are ‘certain,’ rather than speculative.” Charles Drevna, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association president, said the Clean Air Act has effectively improved air quality in cities and communities. However, he stated it “was simply never designed or intended to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases, and no amount of wishful thinking or flawed reasoning on EPA’s part will make it so.” * * * * * California could see as many as a million plug-in hybrid and pure battery electric vehicles on the road by 2020 under upcoming state standards. Those vehicles are required to meet the state’s clean air and greenhouse gas reduction goals, according a report by the California Plug-in Vehicle Collaborative. State utilities are getting ready to serve the expected charging needs, but whether that number of vehicles will materialize largely will depend upon lowering the cost of ownership. “If plug-in hybrid vehicle sales don’t hit 100,000 annually over the next ten years they won’t be sustainable,” said Diane Wittenberg, Collaborative executive director. What the state government can provide electric car buyers to help meet that sales goal, the report suggests, are things like increased access to carpool lanes, discounted vehicle registration fees, and “offsets” of sales taxes on the higher priced vehicles.

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