Read the full article here - http://www.energycommission.org/ht/action/GetDocumentAction/i/3054
Below are a few excerpts from the National Commission on Energy Policy -
Although the theoretical carbon-storage capacity of underground geological repositories in the United States is plentiful, large-scale deployment of CCS would nevertheless require significant investments in infrastructure, possibly including thousands of miles of dedicated carbon dioxide pipelines.
In addition, under optimistic deployment scenarios, many thousands of wells could be required to inject carbon dioxide into underground repositories.
Whether this type of infrastructure would be likely to encounter significant obstacles related to siting and public acceptance is an open question. The limited research available on this topic—most of which has focused on general perceptions of CCS, rather than on likely public reaction if new wells and reservoirs are proposed for a specific community— suggest that CCS is not well known or understood by the public. When introduced to CCS along with a range of other options, most respondents prefer what they consider to be alternatives such as energy efficiency or renewable energy for reducing emissions.45
In sum,efforts to educate the public about CCS and to provide for public input on related siting and other decisions are likely to be critical to advancing this technology.
No provisions are in place, however, to regulate the long-term storage of carbon dioxide which—because it would require measures to prevent venting back to the atmosphere—could involve
new provisions for risk assessment, for monitoring the performance of wells, for assuring the permanence of the carbon stored, and for managing long-term liability if a reservoir leaks.
Large-scale CCS projects would likely also require the assessment of additional risks, including the risk of large releases of carbon dioxide to nearby population centers, risks to groundwater quality, and risks from reactivity with underground minerals and solutions.
