GORD and Global Carbon Council take leading role at CCUS Forum
AS the strategic partners of the MENA region’s first Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Forum, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) and Global Carbon Council (GCC) have successfully concluded their leading participation in the event.
Organised by Oman-based Birba Energy and held under the patronage of Qatar’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the CCUS Forum took place in Doha from May 29 to 31.
With a line-up of global speakers, masterclasses and a buzzing networking hub, the Forum brought together over 500 delegates and visitors from different countries, including government representatives, industries and leading climate and technology experts.
The forum provided a platform for dialogue, knowledge sharing and the fostering of strategies to drive the global transition to a low-carbon future. The event showcased technologies being developed to capture and remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and aimed to create commercial markets for utilizing the captured CO2 and advance its permanent storage via geological sequestration.
Addressing the audience during the opening ceremony, Dr Yousef Alhorr, founding chairman of GORD and GCC, said: “As the first CCUS Forum in the MENA region, this event marks a turning point in our collective efforts to address the pressing climate challenges faced by the region and the world. An energy transition supported by CCUS will enable global economies to diversify their energy mix, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to the global transition towards a low-carbon economy, in alignment with the Paris Agreement.”
Representing the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development, HE Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, former minister of Energy & Industry, said: “I commend the organising committee for focusing on Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage – a technology that is key for advancing low carbon solutions in the energy sector. Through its innovative methods of capturing carbon dioxide emissions, utilising them in various applications and safely storing them underground, CCUS provides a range of environmental, economic and social advantages that deserve our attention and support.”
On the first day of the CCUS Forum, Kishor Rajhansa, COO of GCC, joined a key session on catalysing carbon markets and investments as a crucial strategy for reducing GHG’s emissions and achieving a sustainable future.
The second day of the event was marked by a range of masterclasses where senior members of GCC delved into carbon standards, monitoring, reporting and verification frameworks within the context of CCUS.
In one of these masterclasses, Dr Ammar Elhoweris, head of Technology and Innovation at GORD, shared insights on approaches to construction using CO₂-based technologies.
The third and final day of the CCUS Forum invited experts on a field tour to TechnoHub – GORD’s RDI facility inside Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) where researchers engage in long-term multidisciplinary research on energy efficiency and ecofriendly building materials utilising captured carbon.
During the tour, participants had the opportunity to witness firsthand the important work conducted by GORD in the field of environmental sustainability as well as CCUS. The visit also extended to other QSTP facilities, where member organisations, including GORD, GE, Shell, Total, Iberdrola, Cisco and QMIC, showcased their innovations, particularly in the field of CCUS.
Speaking about GCC’s endorsement for the CCUS Forum, Dr Alhorr said, “As part of our dedication to the theme of this forum, we would like to inform the audience about the imminent launch of GCC’s upcoming methodology for CCS projects, and invite you to engage with us in the public consultation for the methodology before its final publication. This unique methodology stands out as one of the very few worldwide initiatives that incentivise CCS projects through carbon credit issuance.
He added, “Considering the significant number of carbon capture and storage projects taking place worldwide, we believe this methodology has the potential to save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions.”