Sasol’s CCS activities
Sasol’s progress on carbon capture and storage
Sasol’s portfolio approach
Sasol does not believe that there is a single solution to the GHG problem, and is therefore devoting efforts towards finding the optimum mix of solutions. We believe that a portfolio approach, that takes every opportunity to reduce emissions, while considering the cost-effectiveness of the different opportunities, will be required to meet the challenge of minimising Sasol’s GHG footprint. This approach is informing the activities of our New Energy unit. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an essential part of this portfolio of solutions that are necessary to reduce our CO2 emissions.
Execution of geological screening studies
Sasol has spent approximately R7 million over the past three years to investigate the potential for geological storage of CO2 in support of our various planned international CTL projects in the US, India and China. These studies will provide an assessment of the available storage volumes and estimated project costs. To support this technical component, Sasol intends to conduct studies on existing policy frameworks in order to determine the likely future regulatory dispensations, taking into account the circumstances in each host country.
Membership of international CCS research consortia
Sasol is committed to developing the human and technical capacity to implement CCS as a possible GHG mitigation solution for our existing and planned production facilities. Our commitment is evident in our participation in a number of consortia that are tasked with the promotion and advancement of CCS technology. We have contributed a total of R2,8 million during the past financial year to key international associations and we are a member of the UK based Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), the Australian based Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) and the US based Coalseq consortium. The CO2CRC is one of the world’s leading collaborative research organisations focused on CO2 capture and geological sequestration. Their flagship project is the Otway storage project in Australia that is recognised as one of the leading pilot injection projects globally. We benefit from our membership by applying the lessons from the Otway project to our own CCS efforts. The CCSA exists to represent the interests of its members in promoting the business of CCS.
The Association works to raise awareness, both in the UK and internationally, of the benefits of CCS as a viable climate change mitigation option and the role of CCS in moving towards a low-carbon global economy.
Support of international CCS initiatives
Internationally Sasol is recognised for promoting the use of CCS as a key component for GHG mitigation. We support South Africa’s participation in the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) as well as the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme. Our support of these international initiatives includes participation on technical committees and observer participation. Recently Sasol was privileged to receive invitations to attend the inaugural meeting of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). The GCCSI is an Australian initiative that was announced in September 2008, with annual funding of up to AUD 100 million to accelerate the global deployment of commercial scale CCS projects. We were also invited to attend the Norwegian Government hosted Bergen conference on Climate Change and Technology during May 2009. The objective of the conference was to discuss key aspects for the acceptance and implementation of CCS as a greenhouse gas mitigation option.
South African Centre for CCS
Locally, Sasol is a founding member of the South African Centre for CCS, launched on 27 March 2009. According to the recent Climate Change Summit, South Africa has committed to stabilising greenhouse gas emissions by between 2020 and 2025, plateauing for ten years and then decreasing. CCS forms part of the mitigation measures addressed in the Long Term Mitigation Scenario (LTMS) planning of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. As a result of the findings of the LTMS study and the potentially significant reduction of the country’s carbon dioxide footprint through CCS, the South African government has declared CCS a national research priority. The success of CCS in South Africa will ultimately depend on the degree of confidence that the scientific community has in the country’s potential for CO2 storage. This, in turn, will hinge on the development of the human capacity needed to understand the risks and opportunities of CCS.
To develop the required human and technical capacity in CCS, a number of national and international stakeholders identified the need to establish and support a national CCS research centre. The centre is a public private partnership financed from local industry, SANERI, and local and international government sources. Sasol is proud to be one of the foundation members of this important initiative and has contributed R2 million to this cause during the past financial year. The ultimate goal of the research centre is to demonstrate this technology in South Africa with a carbon dioxide injection pilot and ultimately a demonstration plant before 2020. In addition, the centre will support research and the creation of human capacity in the areas of capture, transport and geological storage technologies, monitoring and verification, risk assessment, regulatory and policy research and public outreach and awareness.
National CO2 storage atlas
Sasol is also co-sponsoring the development of a South African Carbon Dioxide Storage Atlas that will identify potential sites for geological storage of CO2 in South Africa. The Council for Geoscience (CGS) and the Petroleum Agency SA started working on the atlas during September 2008 and it is scheduled for completion by mid 2010. The atlas will illustrate the distribution and ranking of potential geological CO2 storage reservoirs in South Africa, including estimated CO2 storage capacities, the main emission sources, location of industrial hubs, transportation pipelines and other factors that may have a bearing on storage feasibility. This work will assist Sasol in assessing the CCS potential for its operations in South Africa.
South African CCS conference
Sasol is a supporter and platinum sponsor of South Africa’s first CCS conference, to be hosted in Johannesburg from 29-30 September 2009. This conference will greatly assist in building CCS capacity and awareness in-country and will include presentations by international experts in the field of CCS.
“”Sasol commits to ensuring increased efficiency in the design of its new CTL facilities, thereby reducing the production of CO2 per barrel of products produced. Furthermore, Sasol will not take an investment decision on a CTL opportunity without the ability over the medium to longer term to access a CCS opportunity or other CO2 mitigation possibility consistent with achieving the long-term CO2 reduction goals.”
Sasol’s position statement on CTL and CCS
“Most of our people don’t have a clear idea of what a carbon footprint entails, yet they read or hear about the issue every day.”
Sasol employee (Sasol sustainable development report employee survey)
“Sustainability is not yet well communicated to shop-floor workers. A more structured system of communication might help.”
Sasol employee (Sasol sustainable development report employee survey)
”We are not good at sharing best practice on SHE. It would be great to have a database where a SHE manager could look up who has undertaken what initiative and visit the site to see how it’s done in order to learn and implement in their own business unit. We would also do well to implement a best practice hub to promote sharing across business units.”
Business unit SHE manager
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