E&E News: “How Carbon Capture Could Outlive Trump”
Fellow Aaron Bergman discusses the future of tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration.
Trump has pledged to undo the rule. But experts said that even with it, the cost of installing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) needs to decrease in order for the technology to play a greater role in the power sector.
“I think the power plant rule does have the potential to drive CCS, but I would say probably more important is the economics of CCS and there the most important thing is the 45Q tax credit,” said Aaron Bergman, a fellow at nonprofit research group Resources for the Future...
Developers can now claim up to $85 per metric ton of CO2 sequestered in saline or other geologic formations and up to $60 per metric ton of CO2 stored via enhanced oil recovery or embedded in a product.
“In some analyses, that does make retrofitting some existing coal plants economic, so there may be a case for utilities to do this just so that they can receive the value of the tax credit, because it is so generous,” Bergman said.
