A NCC white paper now calls for creating a level playing field to deploy CCS used for coal, natural gas and industrial sectors at commercial scale.

The white paper offers recommendations to create “policy parity” for CCS was requested by US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz in advance of the UN Conference of Parties in Paris late this month.

The NCC was chartered in 1984 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to advise, inform and make recommendations to the US Secretary of Energy on matters related to coal policy and technology.

“We believe the recommendations in this report will bring much needed advances to commercialize this vital technology and will help guide decisions on global facilities that will operate for years to come,” Kellow said. “This report addresses the path to near-zero emissions, which is recognized by global leaders as essential to carbon goals.”

The authors of the report have provided a gap analysis defining the difference between the current trajectory of CCS and what is needed to propel its progress, according to NCC chairman Jeff Wallace.

“Coal will continue to be a major source of electricity in the United States and globally for decades to come,” he said.

“The world needs CCS to achieve its environmental goals, and CCS offers the greatest opportunity to capture, use and store significant volumes of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels.”

Some 87% of global energy is supplied by fossil fuels, and coal is by far the most abundant fossil fuel by reserves.

Coal provides 44% of the world's electricity. Coal will remain the dominant fuel for power in 2035, accounting for approximately one-third of electricity, according to the BP Energy Outlook 2035. Currently there are more than 2,200 coal units in construction and planned globally.