Carbon Capture and Storage Projects Within Emissions Trading Systems

Following the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, a new global market for trading allowances to emit greenhouse gases, known as the carbon market, has emerged. As an alternative to a command and control penalty regime or carbon taxes, regulation of emissions is increasingly taking the form of emissions trading through cap and trade schemes. Many jurisdictions including the European Union, Alberta and New South Wales are adopting cap and trade systems as their preferred method of achieving reductions. Given this development, it is important to determine how carbon capture and storage, a popular mitigation technology, is accounted for within these systems.