PM
proposes gas scrubbing to reduce carbon emissions
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
12 09 07
Prime Minister Patrick Manning says while he is concerned about the impact
of this country's carbon emissions on climate change, this does not mean he
has had second thoughts on the establishment of a local aluminum smelting industry.
"No it doesn't. You must understand this,
and the point has been made, and I will make it
again, and that is that there are few alternatives
right now to oil and gas, the petroleum, as an
energy source," Manning said yesterday.
He added that Trinidad and Tobago does not only
use oil and natural gas as an energy source, but
also as a feedstock for industrial plants, such
as those that produce methanol and ammonia.
"And to be able to come out of that, we have
to find alternatives which do not now exist. So
the question therefore is not so much not using
the gas that we have, but as we use the gas we
also, at the same time, pay attention to the carbon
dioxide emissions that will come out of it," Manning
said.
Instead, Manning proposes the implementation of
a very expensive carbon emission reducing technique,
called scrubbing, for existing and future energy
sector plants.
Manning made the disclosure while speaking to
reporters during an impromptu news conference in
the VIP Lounge of the Piarco International Airport
yesterday, after he had returned from a State trip
to Uganda.
Manning and a Trinidad and Tobago delegation,
that included Energy Minister Conrad Enill, attended
the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
in Kampala, Uganda, where the issue of climate
change was the subject of heated debate.
"We did make the commitment in Kampala that
we are aware that we are not without liability
in the matter, and we are going to examine the
matter in Trinidad and Tobago very carefully and
we would take whatever action has to be taken," Manning
said.
The construction of the Alutrint smelter, in which
the State has a 60 per cent shareholding, is now
underway and Manning has previously announced his
administration's intentions to have three smelters
as part of its overall industrialisation policy.
This country now has 10 ammonia plants, seven
ammonia complexes and four liquefied natural gas
(LNG) trains.
"As we use the gas, we pay attention to the
carbon dioxide emissions that will come out of
it and that there are ways of dealing with it;
you can scrub the gas," Manning said.
Carbon scrubbing can involve reforestation projects,
as trees absorb CO2, but it also entails the addition
of devices that capture or absorb the CO2 before
any emissions are released into the atmosphere.
"It costs money to do that. You have to retrofit
existing plants, but it can be done and that is
the way that we will have to go for Trinidad and
Tobago," Manning said.
"Happily
the carbon dioxide can be used in secondary recovery
in the oil industry."
He
then made reference to the Kyoto Protocol, which
is a document that governs global greenhouse
gas emissions that has heavy penalties for developed
countries, "As Trinidad and Tobago moves from
a state of underdevelopment to developed country
status, we are going to run smack into the Kyoto
Protocol and all the penalties that will be applicable
to Trinidad and Tobago," Manning said.
Story
by Juhel Browne from Trinidad Express
-jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad
Express
Thursday, November 29th 2007
Copyright
©2007 Petroleumworld. All Rights Reserved.
