Carbon capture project for Middle East

Abu Dhabi, UAE - Abu Dhabi's renewable energy and clean technology initiative CDM Masdar and Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. (GPIC) are to jointly establish carbon dioxide capture and recycling facilities at GPIC's fertilizer facility in Bahrain. The project,say the partners, will capture carbon dioxide from flue gas and then recycle the captured gas as feedstock in the production of urea and methanol and is expected to reduce over 100 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent per year as of 2010.

The project will be developed under, under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a project-based regulatory mechanism governed and audited by the United Nations (UN). CDM provides financial incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in countries that do not have binding reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, by turning emission reductions into tradable assets or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).

Under an agreement, Masdar will manage the CDM process leading to the project registration at the United Nations regulatory body CDM Executive Board, a pre-requisite to the generation of CERs. Masdar will also author a new CDM methodology for this first of a kind project type.

Since 2007, Masdar has been developing competences to assist oil, gas and industrial companies in the region in the development of CDM projects and monetization of the corresponding carbon emission reduction.

"Masdar is introducing the CDM to the hydrocarbon-based fertilizer industry in the Gulf region" said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Masdar's chief executive officer. ³The CDM provides an incentive to GPIC to develop the CO2 capture project, and we expect this project to pave the way for more carbon reduction initiatives in the industry."

GPIC is a joint venture for the manufacture of fertilisers and petrochemicals, and is equally owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain, Saudi Basic Industries Corp., and Petrochemical Industries Co. of Kuwait. It manufactures fertilisers and petrochemicals, producing almost 1.5 million tonnes of ammonia, urea and methanol per year.

"This project represents an important milestone in GPIC¹s plans for sustainable growth and we are dedicated to leading the promotion of the CDM within the petrochemical industry," said Abdul Rahman Jawahery, general manager, GPIC.

GPIC is a joint venture for the manufacture of fertilisers and petrochemicals, and is equally owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Saudi Basic Industries Corp., and Petrochemical Industries Company, Kuwait. It produces around 400 ktpa of ammonia 600 ktpa of urea and 400 ktpa of methanol.

Masdar is driven by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. (ADFEC), a wholly owned company of the government of Abu Dhabi through the Mubadala Development Co. In January 2008, Abu Dhabi announced it will invest $15 billion in Masdar, the largest single government investment of its kind.