Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 410: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding projects to sequester carbon; if he is liaising with the private sector in this regard; if projects are taking place here or are planned in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41366/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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My Department is engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, on the prospects for carbon sequestrations in Ireland. The report entitled "Assessment of the Potential for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide for the Island of Ireland" was published in September 2008, having been commissioned by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) and Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI). It quantified potential carbon storage capacity on the island, which is in practice considerably greater than the actual total annual carbon emissions in Ireland from large single point sources.

The Department has established and chairs an inter-Departmental/Inter-Agency Group on Carbon Capture and Storage, which is taking the Report's recommendations further. Its next meeting is scheduled for late November. I am aware of five relevant projects and initiatives which directly or indirectly contribute to the development of Irish CCS knowledge, capacity and capability. These comprise three applied projects and two research projects, the latter funded under the "Griffith Geoscience Award" scheme and run by GSI in my Department. The three applied projects evolved in part from recommendations made in the report above and are as follows: o The Clare Basin CCS assessment project, funded and managed by the EPA with technical supervision provided primarily by my Department, including from GSI o The Irish Sea CCS Task Force, an assessment of storage opportunities being pursued by GSI in collaboration with GSINI and the British Geological Survey o The "COSTS4EU" research project application for EU funding.

In relation to the "COSTS" research project, SEI commissioned SLR Consulting Ltd to devise and assemble a trans-national project consortium to advance near term CCS opportunities in Ireland, France and Poland. This includes private sector partners in Ireland, Poland and France. The Irish partner consortium includes SLR Consulting as project managers, and Kinsale Energy Ltd as the principal industry partner, along with the ESB. The Irish component is focusing on the Kinsale Head gas field, as the report identified this as the best near term opportunity for CCS development in Ireland.

The research proposal was lodged with the EU Framework 7 Research Programme in October 2009 and a decision on its preliminary acceptance, or otherwise, is expected in December. The two relevant "Griffith Geoscience Award" scheme projects are as follows:

"Improved understanding of deep seabed processes and basin analysis" by the Marine and Petroleum Geology Research Group, University College Dublin).

"Monitoring storage of carbon underground" by the Geophysics Groups at University College Dublin and University of Ulster.