Reduced greenhouse gas emissions through new research
The major energy project GCEP (Global Climate and Energy Project) recently granted further $ 60 million to several universities and research instutions in the USA and Europe. Reseachers at these institutions will spend the money to conduct fundamental research on developing innovative energy technologies aimed at greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. GCEP was started in 2002, being initiated and sponsored by several major corporations – including ExxonMobil.
The new projects fall into a number of technical areas including fuel cells, energy production through biological processes, and the capture, separation and geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide. They will be funded over a three-year period beginning in 2005.
Stanford University in California is leading the GCEP project, conducting a significant portion of the research, while several universities and research institutions in the USA and Europe are involved in a number of projects. GCEP is combining pre-commercial basic research with the practical know-how of major corporations, and the aim is to foster the development of a global energy system with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
In brief, GCEP will work to:
- Identify the most promising technologies for low emission, high efficiency energy supply
- Identify barriers to the application of these technologies on a global basis
- Conduct research into overcoming these barriers and accelerating global commercial application
- Make research results widely available to the science and engineering community through workshops, presentations and journal publications
The new projects bring the total number of projects supported to 22 with total funding of approximately $26 million. The sponsoring companies will provide up to $225 million over a ten-year period, and ExxonMobil is expected to contribute with around 40 percent of the total funding. ExxonMobil’s investment in GCEP underlines the company’s belief that successful development and global deployment of innovative, commercially viable technology will be the most significant contribution to addressing the world’s energy challenges.
You will find more interesting information about these projects, as well as a new GCEP brochure, by clicking into the project’s homepage.
