UK and Australian researchers continue joint efforts to reduce global carbon emissions

On 1st May 2017, Jon Gibbins, UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) Director, and Tania Constable, Chief Executive Officer, CO₂CRC Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that secures continued collaboration in the field of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), between the two organisations. The signing of the MoU took place in Abu Dhabi, at the mid-year meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, an international climate change initiative focused on the development of cost-effective technologies for CCS.

Both the UKCCSRC, based at the University of Sheffield, and CO₂CRC, based in Melbourne, Australia, help to tackle climate change by supporting research into the development of CCS technology, which is a means of removing carbon dioxide from emissions before it gets released into the atmosphere. The MoU formalises a commitment to share knowledge, collaborate on research, bring research communities together through joint events and provide researcher exchange opportunities. 

This new five-year MoU was initiated by the announcement that the UKCCSRC has secured funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to continue its work to 2022. The new MoU will build upon the successes achieved under the previous MoU held between the two organisations, which expired in March 2017. These included a UKCCSRC funded project into quantifying residual and dissolution trapping at the CO₂CRC Otway Research Facility, which saw UK based researchers visit Australia. “Under the last MoU, the collaborative research proved that CO₂ can be safely stored in the subsurface for over 1000 years” said CO₂CRC CEO, Tania Constable, “It is a fantastic opportunity for UKCCSRC researchers to come and work at our world Otway Research Facility.” The results of the research were presented at conferences in USA, Edinburgh, London and Vienna, further broadening international collaboration into CCS.

Prof. Jon Gibbins said “The MoU with the CO₂CRC is the first to be renewed to span the lifetime of the new EPSRC funding for UKCCSRC, which will now also seek to renew the MoUs held with its other partner organisations in the Netherlands, China, Canada and the USA.”

Notes to editors:

Contact:

Katie Johnson, Communications and Research Support Officer, 0114 215 7236, katie@UKCCSRC.ac.uk

About the UKCCSRC

The UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) leads and coordinates a programme of underpinning research on all aspects of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in support of basic science and UK government efforts on energy and climate change. The Centre brings together CCS academics from more than 40 UK universities and research institutes and provides a national focal point for CCS research and development. www.ukccsrc.ac.uk

About The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK’s main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone’s health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. www.epsrc.ac.uk

About CO₂CRC

CO₂CRC operates arguably the world’s best carbon storage research facility with more than $100m invested in understanding how carbon dioxide (CO₂) behaves underground over the past decade. Through to 2020 a further $45m will be dedicated to fast-tracking storage research with the purpose of reducing the cost of CO₂ monitoring work by tens to hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of a commercial carbon capture and storage program. www.co2crc.com.au