Norway to cooperate with South Africa on CO2 storage

Thursday 17 April: Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg today visited South African energy company Sasol’s Secunda plant outside Johannesburg. The plant’s annual emission amounts to around 60 million tons, more than Norway’s total emission per year.

“We have today agreed with South African authorities and Sasol to survey the possibilities for transport and storage of CO2. Our aim is to store large amounts of CO2”, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says.

The Secunda plant produces synthetic petrol and diesel from coal, and is the world’s largest of its kind. Sasol is considering several new plants of the same type. Around half of Secunda’s total emission is CO2. This makes the plant one of the world’s major single emitters of CO2.

“If we are to succeed in reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases, we must find solutions for major global emitters – like the enormous Secunda plant”, Stoltenberg says.

Later today Prime Minister Stoltenberg met with South Africa’s Vice President Mlambo-Ngcuka. Both sides underlined that capture and storage of CO2 is an important tool for achieving major cuts in global CO2 emissions. They agreed to cooperate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“An important aim of my visit to South Africa is to enhance cooperation between our two countries in reducing climate changes. We agree that we must act quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. South Africa is an important participant in international climate negotiations. I am happy that we will now cooperate on capture and storage of CO2 as one important means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg today visited South African energy company Sasol’s Secunda plant outside Johannesburg. The plant’s annual emission amounts to around 60 million tons, more than Norway’s total emission per year. Photo: Scanpix.