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£675,000 for UCL Carbon Capture Legal Programme
Projects / Policy, May 18 2009 (Carbon Capture Journal)
- UCL's Carbon Capture Legal Programme has received a £675,000 donation from The Crown Estate, Rio Tinto, RPS Group, Schlumberger Carbon Services and Shell.
UCL launched the programme, which sits within the Faculty of Laws, in 2007 to bring together information on the different elements of law surrounding the fast evolving field of CCS in a fully open access online resource - the first of its kind.
The CCLP is also the sole academic partner in the International Energy Agency's (IEA) International Regulators Network, which provides a forum through which regulators can discuss on a regular basis a range of challenges faced by policy makers and regulators in the construction of regulatory solutions.
Through the CCLP, UCL is also a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI), a global institute launched by the Australian government last month to facilitate CCS sequestration demonstration projects and their subsequent deployment around the world. UCL is the only academic institution to hold founding member status.
The UK government has recently proposed a regulatory requirement that all new coal-fired power plants capture at least a quarter of their emissions, and all of their emissions from 2025.
This was a significant policy turn around, making the UK the first country in the world to require CCS in any form. The recent Budget also announced the government's intention to deliver up to four CCS demonstration projects. In addition, the UK is the first country to pass a legally binding CO2 emissions reduction target (at least 80% by 2050).
"These developments all underline the pace at which CCS is set to grow, but it is vital that robust and effective regulatory regimes are in place if CCS is to become truly operational," said Professor Richard Macrory, Director of the Carbon Capture Legal Programme.
"This is the mission of the Carbon Capture Legal Programme here at UCL. The generosity of our donors means that the Programme can now expand and develop to become a world-class centre of expertise and independent analysis over the next three years."
The CCLP will also be holding a conference on the issue of public perception of CCS in June, which will address issues such as the lessons to be learned from reactions to technologies such as nuclear and GMOs in developing CCS technologies, as well as the role for law in ensuring the effective public expression of views, both supportive and dissenting.
