The joint venture is focused on developing technologies to capture and store CO2 emission. To this end, the Project has developed CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS), which is a technique to capture and geologically store the CO2 associated with the use of energy derived from fossil fuels.
The first phase of the CO2 Capture Project (CCP1) cost $50 million and developed a range of technologies to reduce the cost of CO2 capture and provide assurance that CO2 can be securely stored geologically.
Capture technologies include pre-combustion, post-combustion and oxyfiring. Eight companies (BP, ChevronTexaco, EnCana, Eni, Hydro, Shell, Statoil and Suncor) and three governments (USA, EU and Norway) collaborated to manage and fund this technology development. CCP1 was completed in 2004.
The second phase of the project (CCP2) has now commenced, building on the achievements of phase I by developing a focused suite of capture technologies to be ready for pilot testing by the end of 2007. CCP2 also aims to demonstrate that the geological storage of CO2 is secure and can provide an attractive greenhouse gas mitigation option.
The project has already received initial funding from the US Department of Energy and the Norwegian Research Council and plans to build on this by securing additional government support.
