UCL wins grant for programme on legal aspects of carbon capture

Grant

UCL’s Carbon Capture Legal Programme (CCLP), which is researching the legal frameworks surrounding carbon capture and storage, has received a £675,000 donation from The Crown Estate, Rio Tinto, RPS Group, Schlumberger Carbon Services and Shell.

UCL launched the programme 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 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 problems faced by policy makers and regulators in the construction of regulatory frameworks. Through the CCLP, UCL is also a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). The institute was launched by the Australian government last month to encourage 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 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, making the UK the first country in the world to require CCS in any form. The UK Government also said it will set up four CCS demonstration projects.

Richard Macrory, Director of the Carbon Capture Legal Programme, said, “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.”