Summary/Abstract
The NZCCS Partnership (a group of interested industry and government representatives) commissioned a study in 2009 to investigate the implications of CCS should it be deployed in New Zealand. This study, completed by a Transfield Worley Consortium, considered the technical, commercial, legal/legislative, environmental, and social aspects of CCS. This report summarises those findings, while also considering where CCS fits into the international and New Zealand responses to climate change. It includes two case studies considering the viability of CCS for existing and new plants, along with analysis of legislative, environmental, social and economic barriers to the adoption of CCS.
Undertaking a CCS project is not a cheap or simple option for responding to climate change. The capital expenditure alone is in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. Currently, New Zealand legislation would not easily support CCS developments and would add cost and risk to any CCS project. A lack of detailed information about suitable reservoir sites adds to that risk, as does uncertainty about future carbon prices and a lack of public knowledge about CCS.
These issues, however, can be worked through in time. Overall, this study has found that there are some scenarios in which CCS has potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions safely, cost-effectively, safely and in a manner that has minimal impact on the environment. Alongside other carbon-reduction technologies, therefore, CCS could be viable in New Zealand and could deliver value to the country as we move towards a low carbon future.