ENERGY : IEA URGES MORE INVESTMENT IN CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE.

In a report published on 1 January, the International Energy Agency (IEA) once again called for more investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. The call was published two weeks after the European Commission's decision to postpone its financial support for CCS pilot and demo projects (see Europolitics 4553) that innovate in the sector of renewable energy. "For the IEA, carbon capture and storage is not a substitute, but a necessary addition to other low-carbon energy technologies and energy efficiency improvements," said the head of the agency's CCS Unit, Juho Lipponen. "Fossil-fuel CCS is particularly important in a world that currently shows absolutely no sign of scaling down its fossil fuel consumption," he added. But CCS technology is still very costly and, contrary...