INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ON CAPTURE, STORAGE AND UTILIZATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES

Climate change will have world-wide implications. So it is highly appr opriate that there should be international collaboration to investigat e technologies for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, the root ca use of the problem. Sixteen countries, as well as three industrial spo nsors, support the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme and, in many cases , industry is also involved indirectly, through the national membershi ps. This provides a broad range of interest and expertise to guide the management of the Programme, as well as ensuring that the results rea ch a wide audience. The IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme has three mai n activities: (1) evaluation of technologies for mitigation of greenho use gas emissions from use of fossil fuels; (2) dissemination of the r esults of these studies; (3) identification of targets for research, d evelopment and demonstration and promotion of these findings. In its f irst five years of operation, the Programme has studied the major gree nhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, and various means of reducin g their emissions. The main emphasis has been placed on capture, stora ge and utilisation of CO2 from power generation. This option is now mu ch better understood and can be compared with more established measure s, such as fuel switching, energy efficiency improvements and use of r enewable energy. As well as studying abatement of CO2 emissions, the P rogramme has conducted a series of studies of technologies for reducin g CH4 emissions from man-made sources. The Programme's activities are carried out by the Operating Agent, who develops and manages a series of technical studies to meet members' requirements. These studies are carried out by expert contractors, selected by competitive tendering. By these means, the members of the Programme gain access to valuable a nd topical information at moderate cost. The Programme has so far carr ied out about 40 separate evaluation studies. These have highlighted s ome key questions, which must be answered in order to enable applicati on of CO2 sequestration techniques. For example, important issues conc ern the prediction of the performance and environmental impact of CO2 storage. To improve knowledge of such matters will involve practical i nvestigations. International collaboration on practical research, deve lopment and demonstration will form an increasingly important part of the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme in future. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.