Carbon capture not so costly: IEA

By Ikuko Kao

PARIS (Reuters) - Capturing and storing greenhouse gases from power plants may be less costly than many energy companies estimate, the head of the West's energy advisor told Reuters on Monday.

The International Energy Agency has been working on a report to estimate costs that energy companies will have to pay to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), by 50 percent from now by 2050.

Nobuo Tanaka, IEA executive director, said carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the most important technology for emission cuts and pilot programs should be started, especially in China, giving a preview of the report to be published later this year.

"A significant technological breakthrough is necessary to achieve the target and CCS is the most important technology," Tanaka told Reuters in an interview.

"In terms of the power sector, cutting carbon emissions by CCS will cost about $50 per CO2 tonne," Tanaka said. "At least 20-30 projects should get started as soon as possible."

Coal power plants could produce less carbon by piping greenhouse gas emissions underground using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. But the technology is untried and the expense has caused the collapse of pilot projects.

China, where energy demand is growing fast due to robust economic development, relays for a large part of its electricity needs on coal fired power plants. Coal emits more greenhouse gas than other fossil fuels.

Tanaka's estimate is lower than those by private energy companies, which often prefer to get government subsidies to introduce CCS.