In June of 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was drafted. It entered into force on March 21, 1994, and today the treaty has been signed and ratified by 159 states. According to Article 2 of the convention, the ultimate objective of this convention ... is to achieve ... stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
The major greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2) and the major source of anthropogenic CO2 is fossil fuel combustion. While mitigation measures such as improved energy efficiency and fuel switching to less carbon intensive fuels may suffice in the short-term, there is a high probability that additional mitigation strategies will be needed for stabilization in the longer-term. These longer-term strategies may include the large-scale use of renewable energy, increasing the application of nuclear energy, or recovering CO2 from large stationary sources with the subsequent use or storage of the CO2. This last option is the focus of a series of conferences, the International Conferences on Carbon Dioxide Removal (ICCDR), which are a forum to exchange technical information on CO2 removal, storage, and utilization technologies and to promote research and development in this field.
ICCDR-1 was held in March 1992 in Amsterdam, and ICCDR-2 was held in Kyoto in October 1994. The Third International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Removal (ICCDR-3) met September 9-11 on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA. There were 250 delegates from 26 countries. The conference was hosted by the MIT Energy Laboratory and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Co-sponsors were the Research Institute of Innovative Technology (RITE) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Organization (NEDO) in Japan, ABB Asea Brown Boveri in Switzerland, and the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme in the UK.
At ICCDR-3, two important changes were made for future conferences. First, the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme will become the sanctioning organization. Secondly, the name will change to the International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT). The next conference, GHGT-4, will be organized by ABB Asea Brown Boveri and will be held August 31-September 2, 1998, in Interlaken, Switzerland.
These proceedings contain 111 papers divided into seven sections. Section 1 contains papers from the invited speakers, who were asked to provide a context for our proceedings. The next five sections address the core technical topics of the conference, namely CO2 removal (Section 2), storage (geological storage in Section 3, ocean storage in Section 4), and utilization (chemical in Section 5 and biological in Section 6). Finally, Section 7 addresses additional topics such as economics, full fuel cycle analysis, policy and implementation issues, and comparisons to other mitigation options.
Time did not allow us to conduct a formal peer review process, but we thought some peer review was required. Therefore, we asked each contributing author to review two papers submitted to this proceedings. In this way, we obtained two reviews for most papers and at least one review for every paper. This review process made significant contributions to the quality of the papers in these proceedings. I want to acknowledge our thanks to the contributing authors who participated in this review.
During the conference, the ICCDR-3 Organizing Committee presented three AGreenman Awards@ to recognize individuals who made significant contributions to the field of CO2 removal, storage, and utilization. The recipients received a reproduction of a Greenman and a certificate that read as follows:
The Greenman is an ancient celtic archetype of a human face peering though a growing foliage which is often depicted on buildings, churches, and cathedrals. It symbolizes the mysteries of creativity, compassion, healing, new beginnings, and especially our connection with nature and the power of humankind working together with nature, the cycles of nature, and "man and the forest." To honor contributions toward harnessing technology so that the human race can better live in harmony with the environment, the organizers of the Third International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Removal proudly present ______________ with a Greenman award. The Greenman presented with this certificate is "Jeep's Leafface," from St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City.
While there were many deserving candidates, the organizing committee recognized Prof. Yoichi Kaya, Keio University, Japan, for his leadership in promoting CO2 removal, storage, and utilization research; Dr. Meyer Steinberg, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA for his pioneering work in CO2 removal, storage, and utilization research; and Prof. Wim Turkenburg, Utrecht University, The Netherlands for founding the ICCDR series and organizing ICCDR-1. Congratulations to all three for their well deserved award.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the many people who helped make ICCDR-3 a success. In addition to the sponsors and the contributing authors mentioned above, I want to thank the participants; members of the organizing and program committees listed below; my colleagues at the MIT Energy Laboratory including Anne Carbone, Patricia Connell, Stephen Connors, and Elisabeth Drake; and Cathi DiIulio and her co-workers at MIT Conference Services.
On behalf of the organizers of the next conference, we look forward to seeing you in Switzerland in 1998.
Howard J. Herzog, Editor