02 August 2010
British Prime Minister David Cameron has praised Edinburgh University's research into carbon capture and storage. Speaking during a recent visit to India, the Prime Minister stated that the University was leading international research in the field, which is seen as crucial for helping to prevent climate change.
One of the main purposes of the visit was to increase colloboration within this particular field and that the UK is currently seeking to sign an agreement with India to develop new technologies that help address the issue of climate change. Speaking in India the Prime Minister said "We believe we can have a technology leadership on this, developed through some of our best universities, like Edinburgh … that are doing incredible work on carbon capture and storage. That’s the sort of technology we can then share, and export and invest with other countries."
Carbon capture and storage technolgy enables carbon dioxide generated by coal, gas or oil - fired power plants to be captured and stored underground. - for example using depleted oil fields and as result preventing its release into the atmosphere. The technology is also believed to have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those in favour say it will also allow the continued use of fossil fuels without contributing to climate change. Edinburgh Researchers have claimed that the United Kingdom has sufficient storage beneath the North Sea to collect 100 years' worth of the current carbon dioxide output from half of Europe's power plants.
However as well as carrying out world class research into how best to both capture and store the carbon dioxide underground the University is also providing advice to both industry and governments on technology integration with current systems. Edinburgh is also carrying out research in various other fields associated with renewable energy such as electricity generation and distribution together with wave and tidal energy.
Professer Jon Gibbins from Edinburgh University stated "We are very pleased that carbon capture and storage is being discussed with India at the highest level. The University has been working on this in India for a number of years and our engagement with scientific colleagues there has highlighted the challenges of introducing this technology in a developing country.”
Prime Minister David Cameron visited Edinburgh University earlier in 2010 to learn about the work taking place at the institute.
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