GPIC and MASDAR sign Emission Reduction Project

25-Jul-08

Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) and Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multi-billion dollar renewable energy and clean technology initiative, signed an agreement to monetize the emission reduction associated with carbon dioxide capture and recycling at GPIC's fertilizer facility in Bahrain, under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The project, which will capture carbon dioxide from flue gas and then recycle the captured gas as feedstock in the production of urea and methanol, is expected to reduce more than 100,000 tons of CO2 equivalent pa as of 2010. The project will be developed under the Clean Development Mechanism, a project-based regulatory mechanism governed and audited by the United Nations (UN). CDM provides financial incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in countries that do not have binding reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, by turning emission reductions into tradable assets or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). Masdar will manage the CDM process leading to the project registration at the United Nations regulatory body CDM Executive Board, a pre-requisite to the generation of CERs. Masdar will also author a new CDM methodology for this first of a kind project type. Masdar is introducing the CDM to the hydrocarbon-based fertilizer industry in the Gulf region said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Masdar's Chief Executive Officer. The CDM provides an incentive to GPIC to develop the CO2 capture project, and we expect this project to pave the way for more carbon reduction initiatives in the industry. Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company is a joint venture for the manufacture of fertilizers and petrochemicals, and is equally owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, and Petrochemical Industries Company, Kuwait. It manufactures fertilisers and petrochemicals, producing almost 1.5 mln tons of Ammonia, Urea and Methanol per year. This project represents an important milestone in GPIC's plans for sustainable growth and we are dedicated to leading the promotion of the CDM within the petrochemical industry being the first Petrochemical and Fertilizer company that opted for the CDM Project in the region said Mr. Abdul Rahman Jawahery, General Manager, GPIC. Company Press Release