(EnergyAsia, August 16 2012, Thursday) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it is assisting China in developing a road map for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to help achieve the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction goals.

The bank is working with Chinese officials to develop a detailed plan for a staged demonstration and deployment of essential CCS technologies to prevent climate change. The technologies separate, capture, compress, transport and inject CO2 into a suitable underground storage.

The ADB said this project will pave the way for the launch of at least two large-scale CCS demonstration projects by 2016, with an installed capacity to capture at least two million tons of CO2 per year.

CCS application can prevent up to 90% of CO2 emission from large emission sources like fossil fuel-based power plants. However, its development has been slow. To date, no large-scale CCS project attached to a fossil fuel-based power plant is operational anywhere in the world, said the ADB.

“There is an urgent need to fast-track the demonstration and deployment of carbon capture and storage in the People’s Republic of China to cut CO2 emissions from the energy and industrial sectors and achieve the country’s long-term climate change mitigation goals,” said Annika Seiler, Finance Specialist for Energy at ADB’s East Asia Department.

The bank said it expects a comprehensive government-endorsed road map for CCS to encourage more demonstration projects in China.

In turn, a successful large-scale CCS demonstration project in China will help drive the technology’s commercialisation globally, reduce project costs and lead to resolution of technical challenges.

ADB said it is providing US$2.2 million, financed on a grant basis by the ADB-administered Carbon Capture and Storage Fund under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility. In 2009, the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute contributed to establish the fund.

In April 2012, the UK announced financing for CCS development in developing and emerging countries.

Since 2008, ADB has been supporting the government’s efforts through capacity development projects, studies, and financial assistance. Incomplete policy and regulatory framework, low fiscal and financial support for CCS demonstration projects, and inadequate international funding mechanisms to support projects have been identified as key barriers to large-scale demonstration of CCS in China.