Firms urged to harness carbon capture technology
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Firms urged to harness carbon capture technology

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The Arthit gas block in the Gulf of Thailand, operated by PTTEP.
The Arthit gas block in the Gulf of Thailand, operated by PTTEP.

While planting more trees is a simple way to absorb carbon dioxide, many companies, especially those in the energy sector, need to adopt a more sophisticated method by installing carbon capture technology.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology is designed to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and industrial operations. The captured carbon dioxide can be compressed and stored in underground geological formations or used to produce a variety of products, including certain chemicals.

PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP), the petroleum drilling arm of national oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc, is pushing ahead with its plan to use CCUS to store 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted during the gas production process at the Arthit gas block in the Gulf of Thailand.

Kongkrapan Intarajang, president and chief executive of PTT, said the company is deciding on what types of storage facilities will be used to store the carbon dioxide, which will be liquefied.

According to PTTEP, the CCUS pilot project is scheduled to commence operations by 2027.

The Gulf of Thailand offers great potential in terms of the storage of carbon dioxide, amounting to roughly 40 million tonnes a year, because, geographically, the terrain is a sink area, which is suitable for the storage of carbon dioxide.

This is part of PTT's efforts to fight global warming, which include a plan to use hydrogen energy.

The use of CCUS and hydrogen is costly, but they will be able to pave the way for PTT to earn more revenue in the long term, said Mr Kongkrapan.

In 2020, PTT and its subsidiaries emitted 44.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

SET-listed Banpu Power, the power generation arm of energy conglomerate Banpu Group, is also interested in CCUS.

It plans to first install CCUS at its gas production facility in the US.

Banpu Power plans to start using carbon capture and sequestration technology in 2025 at its Barnett shale field in Texas to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during the gas production process.

The company is focusing on carbon storage rather than utilising it.

Producing and delivering energy that generates robust cash flow may not be sufficient once the impact of global warming becomes more evident.

Companies need to advance their decarbonisation efforts, said Banpu Power.

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