Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
A Global Response to the Challenge of Climate Change
The international Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) is a voluntary climate initiative of developed and developing nations that account for about 75 percent of all manmade carbon dioxide emissions.
Formed in 2003, CSLF marshals intellectual, technical and financial resources from all parts of the world to support the long-term goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - the stabilization of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in this century. Members are dedicated to collaboration and information sharing in developing, proving safe, demonstrating and fostering the worldwide deployment of multiple technologies for the capture and long-term geologic storage of carbon dioxide at low costs; and to establishing a companion foundation of legislative, regulatory, administrative, and institutional practices that will ensure safe, verifiable storage for as long as millennia.
CSLF members engage in cooperative technology development aimed at enabling the early reduction and steady elimination of the carbon dioxide which constitutes more than 60 percent of such emissions - the product of electric generation and other heavy industrial activity.
In 2005, the Forum and the technologies it seeks to develop were identified by international bodies as pivotal in dealing with greenhouse gases and their ultimate stabilization. In July 2005, the G-8 Summit endorsed CSLF in its Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, and identified it as a medium of cooperation and collaboration with key developing countries in dealing with greenhouse gases.
Similar designations were also made in bilateral activities that include the joint statement of the U.S.-European Union Summit on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency, Renewables and Economic Development, and the Mainz Declaration of Germany and the United States on Cleaner and More Efficient Energy, Development and Climate Change.
In 2006 and 2007, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the CSLF held a series of three workshops for invited experts from around the world on the topic of near-term opportunities for carbon capture and storage (CCS). Resulting recommendations from these workshops were formally adopted by the CSLF and were sent forward to G8 leaders. A report summarizing these results can be found on the CSLF website.
Geologic storage at great depth is possible in depleted and declining oil fields, which can enhance near-term supply by boosting recovery and also increase reserves by making more petroleum recoverable in: natural gas fields; unmineable coal seams, which may add to natural gas supply by displacing methane for recovery and use; saline reservoirs which underlie much of the world; and other significant geologic formations such as basalt.
Preliminary findings indicate the world's potential storage capacity is sufficient to hold all emissions for several centuries and that there is a good match between large-scale carbon dioxide sources and storage formations. In September 2005, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage which found that technology can capture up to 90 percent of carbon dioxide in large-scale applications; and storage can account for up to 55 percent of the emissions reductions needed to achieve atmospheric stabilization.
Many CSLF recognized projects are meant to identify and further quantify the potential of storage sites. At present, there are 20 projects that have received CSLF recognition. Seven of the 20 recognized CSLF projects have been completed: the Alberta Enhanced Coal-Bed Methane Recovery Project, the China Coalbed Methane Technology/CO2Sequestration Project, the CO2 Capture Project (Phase 2), the CO2STORE Project, the CASTOR Project, the Dynamis Project, and the Regional Opportunities for CO2 Capture and Storage in China Project. Further information on these projects can be found on the CSLF website.
Three of the CSLF recognized projects are located in China (2) and India (1). One project in China quantified a range of storage capacity in a variety of geologic formations while the other examined the potential for storage in unmineable coal seams. The activity in India is focusing on the storage potential of basalt formations, which underlie much of the sub-continent. An early assessment of basalt in the United States suggested the potential to take all emissions for hundreds of years.
The Forum involves the world's major users and producers of fossil energy in collaborative, constructive activity on the main greenhouse gas. CSLF member countries represent over 3.5 billion people, or approximately 60% of the world's population. Members represent the world's largest blocs of economic activity, including the North America Free Trade Area, the European Union and the leading economies of Asia.
Members are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, the European Commission, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Recent Meetings
The CSLF Policy and Technical Groups met most recently in April 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. Highlights of the meeting included:
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Recognition of one new project: Dynamis (sponsored by The European Commission and Norway).
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An examination of CSLF priorities for moving CCS forward that may be recommended to Energy Ministers at the next meeting, a CSLF 2009 Ministerial.
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Agreement on appropriate initiatives and projects, which would form an overarching strategy for removing the barriers of CCS.
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Agreement on an updated roadmap for bridging the gap for affordable technology so as to obtain substantial progress in both emerging and industrialized economies to reflect the latest market realities.
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Agreement on creating successful pathways for Capacity Building as the vehicle for the transfer of technologies, knowledge, and experience about CCS to engineers, scientists, and policy makers in emerging economies.
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A resolution to increase the role of stakeholders in implementing the policy priorities, and recognition that stakeholders' expertise is the key to assisting in removing the barriers to CCS deployment as they are ultimately responsible for deploying the CCS technologies.
The CSLF Technical Group met in April 2009 in Oslo, Norway. Highlights of the meeting include:
- Preparation of a new draft update to the CSLF Technology Roadmap and agreement on a timetable for completion of the update process.
- Formation of a new working group on performance-based standards for CO2 storage, chaired by France.
- Presentation by sponsors of two Norwegian CCS projects.
- Presentation on Australia's new Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
The CSLF Policy Group met in June 2009 in San Francisco. Highlights of the meeting include:
- New Zealand welcomed as the 23rd Member of the CSLF.
- New CSLF Technology Roadmap was approved.
- New Task Force for Financing CCS was created that will investigate incentives and investments for CCS in both developing and developed countries.
- New Task Force on CCS in the Academic Community was created.
- Planning for upcoming CSLF Ministerial meeting was advanced.
The CSLF Task Force on Capacity Building in Emerging Economies held four successful workshops in 2008. These include:
- Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The workshop featured four main themes: Commercial Aspects and Opportunities for Storage of CO2 in Oil and Gas Reservoirs; Technology Roadmaps and their Importance; Issues that impact CCS; and needs of Emerging Economy Countries. More than 130 people representing 17 countries attended.
- Mexico City, Mexico. The workshop featured presentations on enhanced oil recovery; identifying and quantifying the quality CO2 storage sites; and technologies for measuring, monitoring and verifying the storage of CO2. More then 140 people representing Mexico’s energy industries attended.
- Salvador, Brazil. Approximately 30 people attended the presentations which featured the context of CCS in the stabilization of the GHG emissions, emerging technologies for cost reduction, geologies subsurface primer with source and sink matching, MMV. technologies and techniques, CCS projects, stakeholder integration and involvement, legal frameworks, and risk analysis.
- Washington, DC. Approximately 20 people attended the workshop, which featured both policy and technical presentations from the GHGT-9 Conference that was taking place at the same time and place on the workshop.
Upcoming Meetings
- The third CSLF Ministerial meeting will be held October 12-14, 2009, in London, United Kingdom.
For more information on upcoming meetings and events, please visit the CSLF website.
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