Ministry Releases Safety and Environmental Guidelines of CCS Pilot Project

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released on August 7, 2009, guidelines on safety and environmental standards that should be observed in implementing large-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) pilot projects. The report was compiled based on discussions of two working groups -- the Working Group on Safety Standards for CCS Implementation and the Working Group for Ensuring Long-Term Safety -- established by the ministry's CCS study group.

The guidelines set safety and environmental standards for a series of processes in CCS projects, including geological considerations in examining candidate sites for CCS projects, issues related to carbon dioxide capture and transport, post-storage monitoring items, and actions to be taken if an abnormal situation arises.

When CCS technologies are put into practical use, the CCS study group will review the standards based on not only information obtained from pilot projects but also the latest efforts on ensuring safety and CCS projects in other countries along with their regulatory trends.

The government's action plan for achieving a low-carbon society, approved by the cabinet on July 29, 2008, stipulates that Japan will commence large-scale CCS pilot projects early after FY 2009 and put CCS into practical use by 2020. Following this decision, the efforts for practical application of CCS were started. Regarding case examples, please refer to the JFS article mentioned below.

Geological Survey to Start for Demonstration of CO2 Sequestration, off Hokkaido (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/029428.html
Report by the Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) Study Group
http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/
data/20090807_02.html

Posted: 2009/10/29 06:00:15 AM