REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), is developing the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology to reduce carbon emissions, according to ESDM Minister Sudirman Said.

He stated that the CCS technology will be used to significantly reduce carbon emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal.

"The CCS technology should be studied in depth as it will have a significant impact on energy processing. This is the time we should develop the CCS technology," the energy minister noted while opening a CCS workshop here on Tuesday.

Sudirman explained that CCS is a technology that can capture up to 90 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes, which is then transported by pipelines or ships for safe storage.

According to him, the application of CCS technology in the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a strategy that suits the characteristics of geological formations in Indonesia.

"A lot of the old oil and gas wells can be reactivated by using the method of CO2-EOR technology," he added.

The energy minister said that the ministry is planning to implement a low-cost method wherein the resources are supplied from natural gas processing, while the "depleted reservoir" of oil and gas can function as the storage.

Sudirman remarked that government's willingness to issue incentive policies for oil and gas operators to reactivate the old wells will encourage the operators to actively involve themselves in developing CCS technologies, especially in the oil and gas sub-sector.

ESDM Chief for Research and Development F.X. Sutijastoto remarked that the CCS technology has been applied in numerous countries including the United States and Britain.

"In the United States, the CCS technology was applied in collaboration with the CO2-EOR technology, while the British Government has allocated one billion Euros for the operators who would like to develop the CCS," Sutijastoto stated.

Regarding the costs involved in the development of CCS technology in Indonesia, he recommended the implementation of a "carbon tax" of US$100 on every ton of carbon produced.

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