Manning to use carbon capture; Kamla wants moratorium on smelters

Prime Minister Patrick Manning told reporters Sunday his government is considering the use of carbon capture to help deal with the problem of Global warming.

Manning was speaking at the close of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which he and many other leaders hailed as a great success.

Climate change was an important part of the weekend discussions during which the Commonwealth came up with a consensus declaration to present at next month's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

Manning will be attending the talks in Denmark in his dual capacity of leader of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation and the chairman of CHOGM.

He noted that Trinidad and Tobago falls under the broad heading of small and vulnerable states and would likely qualify for financial assistance from a proposed fund of at least US$10 billion that leaders will discuss at the Copenhagen summit. Trinidad and Tobago, he said, would have to contribute to that fund.

He admitted that as the country moves forward on its agenda to reach developed country status by 2020 it would leave a larger carbon footprint than many developing nations as a result of Trinidad and Tobago's heavy industrialization.

However he pledged to adopt a policy of "minimising our carbon emissions and the emissions of other greenhouse gases and we will seek to retrofit existing plants in collaboration with companies that operate here in the industry."

Manning said the policy would be fast tracked.

Commenting further on the carbon capture plan, he noted that the technology is "very contentious because there are countries that believe that if you place carbon oxides in formations that once contained oil and gas, you run the risk of leakages from these horizons."

Manning addded that he does not see that in the same way, which is why he is contemplating it.

"In fact, in Trinidad and Tobago, we have been doing some of that for some time, because carbon dioxide is the commodity that we use in the secondary recovery of oil," he said.

"Some ammonia plants already have carbon dioxide as a by-product and methanol plants use carbon dioxide to increase their product...So it is a kind of trade off situation; a net situation in which we have an excess of carbon dioxide produced over carbon dioxide consumed and it is in those circumstances we are considering carbon sequestration", he said.

While Manning addressed the emissions issue in Port of Spain, United National Congress (UNC) deputy leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar spoke in Couva, calling on Manning to declare a moratorium on the aluminium smelter plants.

"As we conclude CHOGM and approach Copenhagen, I call on the Prime Minister to cleanse our image in the world community and demonstrate a commitment to emission reduction by announcing a moratorium on the planned aluminium smelter plants proliferation, pending further studies," Persad-Bissessar told delegates attending the UNC’s National Assembly at the Rienzi Complex.

Persad-Bissessar said she is formulating an economic development plan that will review all the energy intensive and capital intensive mega projects in Trinidad and Tobago in which she would give consideration to appropriate modifications or alternatives as part of a diversification strategy.

She doubted Manning's declared concern over climate change and noted that he presides over an administration that has allowed Trinidad and Tobago to be ranked among the top ten global polluters.

"Mr Manning wants to use the basis of ’absolute emission’ or total emission instead of looking at our disproportionate rate of polluting the environment. This is like claim to a ’right to pollute’ on the part of Trinidad and Tobago.

"Mr Manning wants the advantage of masking our ugliness as a top ranking polluter and go unnoticed in the crowd," she said.