 |
  |
|
 |
||
|
 |
Home  Under the Kyoto Protocol which took effect on Feb. 16, 2005, Japan is required to achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 6% during the first commitment period (2008-2012) relative to the baseline year (1990). However, GHG emissions in FY2005 in the form of CO2 reached 1.364 Gt, an 8.1% increase from the baseline year (source: Ministry of the Environment "Preliminary Figures on GHG Emissions in FY 2005"), making it difficult to meet the target. To overcome the situation, it is necessary to develop innovative global warming countermeasure technologies. Global warming countermeasure technologies comprise those which control the increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration when implemented on a large scale. They include technologies such as fossil fuel consumption reduction (improvement of energy efficiency, use of new energies), expansion of absorption sources through afforestation/reforestation, and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). One of the CCS technologies currently being put into practical use in various countries worldwide is CO2 geological storage. The technology involves separating and capturing CO2 emitted from large-scale fixed sources, such as coal-fired power plants, and storing it in saline formations located deep underground (hereinafter referred to as "aquifers"). It holds promise as the most practical, immediate-effect technology, because a range of technologies accumulated in fields such as oil-well drilling, underground storage of natural gas, and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) are readily adaptable. Herein, an explanatory introduction is provided of the CO2 geological storage project being implemented by the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) with a subsidy from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). |
|
|
|||||
 |
|||||
|
|