BRITISH GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 4
February 2009
China's
potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS), an essential
technology to achieve low global emissions, will be examined next
week at a conference of senior scientific experts from China and
the EU. It will be hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS)
in Nottingham on February 10-12 2009.
The conference will highlight how British science is supporting
China in developing their capabilities to bury CO2 from power
stations in rock formations deep below the surface.
It is thought that China builds around one coal power station per
week and CO2 storage will allow it to maintain energy supplies at
the same time as reducing emissions.
The scientific experts will discuss technical assessments of
storage potential from ongoing research on the COACH (Cooperation
Action within Carbon Capture and Storage China-EU) and NZEC (Near
Zero Emissions from Coal) projects, as well as other European projects.
Dr Mike Stephenson, Head of Science for Energy at BGS said
"COACH and NZEC look at the potential for geological storage
of CO2 in parts of north-east China, where the coal power
generation capacity is increasing at an amazing rate. The
potential for storing CO2 in formations that contain naturally
occurring brine, in old oil fields whose oil is depleted or used
up, or, in unmineable coals is being studied. The Chinese and EU
experts have calculated the storage capacity of these formations
and will discuss these important new results."
The lowering of CO2 emissions in China is vital to the global
goal of avoiding a catastrophic temperature rise of 2C before
2100, and it could be argued that CO2 emission reductions
elsewhere are irrelevant without China's involvement. China
is committed to using its vast coal resources in electricity
generation as it will be a long time before other energy sources
such as renewables are able to meet their energy demands. Thus
projects like COACH, and NZEC, which foster technology transfer,
as well as long term scientific links, are very important in
achieving low global emissions.
Dr Jiutian Zhang from China's Administrative Centre for
China's Agenda 21 (ACCA21) said "The workshop hosted by
BGS in the UK will provide an important opportunity for Chinese
and European researchers to share results from the geological
assessments of CO2 storage potential in China, to discuss future
collaboration and to demonstrate other CCS research in progress."
Senior personnel from the Department of Energy and Climate Change
(DECC) and the EU Directorate General Energy and Transport will
also be present and DECC are funding 11 of the 17 Chinese
delegates to attend.
*Ends*
For further details or to arrange media interviews please
contact:
Aoife O'Mongain
BGS Press Office,
Edinburgh
email: aom@bgs.ac.uk Tel. + 44 (0)131 650
0230
Clive Mitchell
BGS Press Office, Keyworth,
Nottingham
email: cjmi@bgs.ac.uk Tel. + 44 (0)115 936 3257
Notes for Editors
1. COACH (Cooperation Action within Carbon Capture and Storage
China-EU) http://www.co2-coach.com/
2. NZEC (Near Zero Emissions from Coal) http://www.nzec.info/en/
The British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey (BGS), a component body of the
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is the nation's
principal supplier of objective, impartial and up-to-date
geological expertise and information for decision making for
governmental, commercial and individual users. The BGS maintains
and develops the nation's understanding of its geology to
improve policy making, enhance national wealth and reduce risk. It
also collaborates with the national and international scientific
community in carrying out research in strategic areas, including
energy and natural resources, our vulnerability to environmental
change and hazards, and our general knowledge of the Earth system.
More about the BGS can be found at http://www.bgs.ac.uk.