Yahoo News 16 Nov 07;
OPEC leaders are set to make carbon capture and storage the centerpiece of their new-found green agenda by urging greater use of the emerging technique to curb carbon emissions, Algeria's energy minister said Friday.
Chakib Khelil, reading from a draft declaration expected to be approved at the end of an OPEC summit, said point three would be "energy and environment: carbon storage could reduce the impact of fossil fuels on climate change and developed countries have the technology on this."
Earlier a source told AFP that the joint communique to be issued by OPEC leaders on Sunday would include a "big announcement on the environment."
At a conference in Spain, UN experts meanwhile agreed Friday on a draft report that warns global warming may have far-reaching and irreversible consequences.
The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) encapsulates a massive overview of the global-warming problem, with the goal of guiding policymakers for the next five years.
Carbon capture technology, with which oil producer Norway, a non-OPEC member, is leading the way, consists of trapping carbon dioxide and storing it long-term underground.
The technology is based on removing harmful gases from major industrial activities, mainly power generation, and then storing it or injecting it into mature oilfields.
It has won support from the United States and the oil industry because it potentially offers a partial solution to the climate change problem without reducing dependence on oil or curbing consumption.
But it is only in the development stage and requires massive investment to make it commercially viable.
Three pilot projects are operating in Algeria, Canada and the North Sea off the Norwegian coast.
Some have also pointed to other drawbacks, notably that the underground storage chamber could rupture which would then release a huge bubble of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, worsening global warming at a stroke.
Nevertheless, the UN's top climate change official said Thursday here that a commitment to carbon capture would be "very constructive outcome of the deliberations at the heads of state level" at the OPEC summit.
OPEC organisers have set "providing petroleum, promoting prosperity and protecting the environment" as the three headline themes of the two-day summit, with the emphasis on the environment coming as a surprise to many observers.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi, who chaired a debate about energy and the environment on Thursday with the UN's top climate change official, said the host country was concerned and ready to act on global warming.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), praised the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries for its attitude to the issue.
"I think the debate here points to a constructive willingness to participate in international dialogue about climate change," he said.
He added that cartel members had shown "recognition that oil is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, but also a willingness to talk about how oil can be produced and brought to market in a cleaner way."
The OPEC summit is only the third in the organisation's 47-year history.
Foreign, finance and oil ministers from the 12 member countries were gathering here on Friday to finalise the declaration.
Saudi Arabia announces climate change fund
Yahoo News 17 Nov 07
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, announced Saturday a multi-million-dollar fund to tackle global warming that is set to focus on finding technological solutions to the climate change problem.
Making the announcement at the opening of the third OPEC summit in Riyadh, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz said the kingdom will invest 300 million dollars (200 million euros) to develop technology to tackle climate change.
"I announce that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is giving an amount of 300 million dollars that will be basis of a programme that will finance research related to the future of energy, environment and climate change," he said.
The king described attempts to exaggerate the impact of oil on the environment and climate change as "erroneous."
OPEC ministers on Friday expressed support for carbon capture and storage, an emerging technology to trap carbon dioxide and store it underground.
"Protecting the planet" is one of three headline themes of the OPEC summit, a surprising focus for a group of oil producers whose wealth depends on their exports of fossil fuels.
Algeria's Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said Friday the final statement to be issued by OPEC leaders on Sunday will call for expanding the use of carbon capture and storage technology to curb carbon emissions.
A UN report released on Saturday said evidence of a human role in the warming of the planet was now "unequivocal" and the effects on the climate system could be "abrupt or irreversible."
Carbon capture technology, with which oil producer Norway, a non-OPEC member, is leading the way, consists of trapping carbon dioxide and storing it long-term underground.
The technology is based on removing harmful gases from major industrial activities, mainly power generation, and then storing it or injecting it into mature oilfields.
It has won support from the United States and the oil industry because it potentially offers a partial solution to the climate change problem without reducing dependence on oil or curbing consumption.
But it is only in the development stage and requires massive investment to make it commercially viable.
Three pilot projects are operating in Algeria, Canada and the North Sea off the Norwegian coast.
Some have also pointed to other drawbacks, notably that the underground storage chamber could rupture which would then release a huge bubble of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, worsening global warming at a stroke.
Nevertheless, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said Thursday here that a commitment to carbon capture would be "very constructive outcome of the deliberations at the heads of state level" at the OPEC summit.
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