Eyes of the world on carbon emissions

The United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change(UNFCCC) began Monday, Dec 3rd, in Bali, Indonesia, to determine a roadmap for an unregulated, post-Kyoto carbon emission's world.

The current Kyoto protocol, which set mandatory, legally binding limits on the levels of emissions of green house gases by signatory parties, is set to expire in 2012.

Developing technology to enable the cleaner use of fossil fuels was key to our challenge said Mr. Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary. He also cited "energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuels such as biofuels as being a critical part of the answer to climate change."

His session will examine industrial-scale CCS investments and the business model of carbon management. In addition, there will also be over a dozen leading firms involved in CSS technology and clean combustion participating in the adjoining future energy exhibition.

CO2 Capture and geological Storage (CCS) is a technology that could cost-effectively solve a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas problem. While energy efficiency and renewable energy needs to play key roles in the future, neither is capable of achieving massive near-term reductions in CO2 emissions. Fossil fuels will have to continue to play a major role in the world's primary energy mix over the medium term. Fossil fuels can be decarbonised using CCS technology.

CCS technology captures up to 90% of the CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels in power plants (and other industrial processes) and stores the CO2 in deep geological formations (depleted oil/gas fields and deep saline formations). New, industrial-scale demonstration projects are beginning to create a "market pull" for CCS technology, address issues of scale-up and integration, and shape the necessary policy and regulatory frameworks.

With many large, fixed CO2 point sources, a rising demand for electricity and numerous oil fields, the Gulf region is uniquely well-placed to deploy CCS. It also has an extensive network of oil and gas infrastructure that could be harnessed to transport and store CO2.

The early deployment of industrial-scale CCS projects will involve substantial costs and risks. These projects are long-term in nature, requiring high upfront investments and long periods of operation (30-50 years). There is an urgent need to establish a set of regulatory and fiscal conditions to manage some of the risks and remove barriers to investment.

There will also be over a dozen leading firms involved in CSS technology and clean combustion participating in the adjoining future energy exhibition.