The agreement, which falls under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), calls for the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas and recycling it into feedstock for the production of urea and methanol at the complex.

The project is expected to reduce emissions by more than 100,000 tonnes a year of CO2 equivalent from 2010.

The project will be developed under the CDM, a project-based regulatory mechanism run by the UN. CDM provides financial incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in countries without binding reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, by turning emission reductions into tradable assets known as Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).

Masdar is already involved with three carbon capture and storage projects in Abu Dhabi emirate that will capture CO2 before and after combustion, and transport it using a pipeline to oil fields where it can be injected into reservoirs to help maintain pressure (MEED 16:5:08).

GPIC is equally owned by the Bahrain government, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait. It produces about 1.5 million tonnes a year of ammonia, urea and methanol.