Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multifaceted renewable energy initiative, and the Ministry of Energy of the Government of Alberta, Canada, have signed a MoU for cooperation on carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiatives.

The MoU, which was signed during the World Future Energy Summit (WEFS), sets out a strategic agreement between the two governments for the sharing of research and evaluation and analysis on non-confidential CCS projects and technologies.

CCS works by capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial sources, thus preventing their release into the atmosphere, and permanently storing these underground in geological structures such as oil reservoirs. Some 40 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions currently come from power generation, making CCS a promising new technology in the global effort to combat climate change.

“Masdar is committed to developing partnerships with global energy organisations, such as the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Energy, to test and prove efficient, commercially scalable sustainable energy solutions that can be replicated globally,” stated Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of Masdar.

“The Province of Alberta is rich in energy and mineral resources including natural gas, conventional oil, oil sands, petrochemicals, electricity and coal,” said Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta.

“We understand well the importance of CCS and are delighted to have signed this agreement with Masdar, which like us, is committed to reducing carbon emissions both locally and globally through the management of clean fossil fuel power and greater industrial energy efficiency.”

Masdar is developing one of the world’s most ambitious large-scale CCS projects. The CCS network will capture carbon dioxide from power plants and industrial facilities and then transport it via a UAE-wide pipeline network for injection into Abu Dhabi’s oil reservoirs for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

The first phase of the project is currently in the front-end engineering and design stage and upon completion in late 2014 will capture 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.-TradeArabia News Service