S'pore, Japan ink deal to tie up on carbon capture and storage

Pact will pool together expertise, resources to boost adoption of green tech in region

- Cheryl Tan

Singapore and Japan signed an agreement on Aug 21 to deepen collaboration on carbon capture and storage (CCS), a climate solution that entails sucking up and locking away planet-warming carbon dioxide from polluting sources.

The Ministry of Trade and Indus-try (MTI) said that the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the second Asia Zero Emission Community ministerial meeting in Jakarta, by Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito.

The agreement will facilitate knowledge exchange on best practices for cross-border carbon capture and storage, as well as the sharing of insights on CCS technologies.

"It will also pool together expertise and resources from Singapore and Japan to accelerate the adoption of CCS in the region," said MTI.

Singapore has committed to boosting its research and development in CCS technologies, with plans to collaborate with Indonesia on a cross-border CCS project allowing Singapore companies to ship their carbon there for storage.

The authorities are also working with ExxonMobil and Shell to study the feasibility of aggregating CO2 emissions in Singapore for storage in other countries. The industry consortium, known as S Hub, will also collaborate with regional partners to identify potential CO2 storage sites.