A quick survey of carbon capture projects and efforts around the world: _ Sleipner, Norway: Since 1996, Statoil has been piping more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide a year from a gas field under the North Sea into a nearby water-bearing rock formation to avoid a government carbon tax. The company says no carbon dioxide has leaked from the site, the world's oldest capture project. _ Snohvit, Norway: Last year, Statoil began another project capturing 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into a sandstone formation in the Barents Sea. _ Salah, Algeria: Sonatrach, BP and Statoil have injected around 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from a Sahara desert gas field into a geological formation nearby. _ Weyburn-Midale, North Dakota, United States and Saskatchewan, Canada: The Great Plains Synfuels Plant captures about 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when it turns coal into synthetic natural gas. The carbon dioxide is piped 200 miles to Canada and injected into near-empty oil fields to help pump out remaining oil. _ Germany is already capturing CO2 at coal plants run by RWE AG and Vattenfall and seeking permission for storage sites. _ The Group of Eight rich nations plan 20 large carbon capture projects that aim to show by 2020 whether the technology works. The European Union says it will set up at least 12 with initial funding of $1.5 billion and possibly up to $6.7 billion from selling cap-and-trade permits. The U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Brazil, Poland, France, Spain, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates are also planning projects. (This version CORRECTS Corrects slug) |