RIVIERA MARITIME MEDIA'S CO2 SHIPPING CONFERENCE IN LONDON ON 6-7 MAY 2010 TO TACKLE THIS KEY QUESTION

WILL THE DRIVE TO CONTROL CLIMATE CHANGE MAKE CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) A MAJOR NEW GAS CARRIER CARGO? What: A major new gas carrier cargo? When: 6 - 7 May 2010 Where: London, UK Organiser: Riviera Maritime Media Information & registration: www.rivieramm.com/events Gas carriers stand poised to play a key role in the logistics chains that will be required to implement the range of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that have been proposed worldwide. It is estimated that CCS schemes could lead to the capture and sequestration of up to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per annum within the next 15 years, or 20 per cent of all the CO2 given off by fossil fuel-burning power stations and other heavy industrial plant. Pipelines and gas carriers offer the only viable options for delivering large quantities of CO2 from the point of capture to the point of sequestration. While pipelines will offer the most viable solution on dedicated projects involving large volumes and relatively short delivery distances, gas carriers will provide a viable and flexible alternative for a range of projects where the CO2 delivery route is more challenging. Ships will be eminently suitable for those projects serving shoreside industrial plant and involving CO2 sequestration in offshore oil wells and aquifers. Although there are currently four coastal CO2 carriers in operation in Northern Europe, they are very small vessels serving the food and beverage and waste treatment industries. The gas carriers needed for CCS projects will have to be some 25 times larger in size. No such dedicated CO2 carrier has ever been built. Initial studies are revealing that the carriage of the required volumes of CO2 in gas tankers poses a number of technological challenges and that the costs involved can vary widely. Key factors in the commercialisation of a ship-based CCS scheme include the volumes of CO2 transported, voyage distances, power plant seasonal load profiles, the possible need for interim CO2 storage facilities along the supply chain, offshore cargo transfer arrangements and the impact of all these factors on ship design parameters. The challenges of mounting a CO2 carrier-based CCS project has prompted the gas shipping industry to seek a forum to discuss the potential for CO2 shipping and Riviera Maritime Media has responded by organising the world's first conference dedicated to the transportation of CO2 by sea. The CO2 Shipping Conference, which will be held on 6-7 May 2010 at London's Millennium Gloucester Hotel, will investigate not only the potential of CO2 transport by sea but also the most cost-effective options for ship design and possible supply chain configurations. Interest in the potential for the carriage of CO2 transport by sea amongst those in shipping community is evidenced by the strong presence of gas carrier owners and operators amongst the early bookings. Of delegates registered for the CO2 Shipping conference to date, more than one-half are from companies such as Anthony Veder, Knutsen OAS, Maersk Tankers, NYK, Chemgas, Lauritzen Kosan and Synergas. At the event speakers from amongst shipowners, class societies, shipbuilders and designers, gas plant engineers, utility companies, power plant operators and regulatory authorities will bring their points of view to the debate. The overall conference proceedings will be chaired by Mike Corkhill, editor of LNG World Shipping and its sister journal LPG World Shipping. The opening CO2 Shipping conference session will examine the drivers and the support mechanisms for the CCS market; review the latest developments with Europe's proposed CCS projects; consider the European Union's funding plans; and look into the priorities when deploying the necessary CO2 infrastructure. Following this scene-setting, the benefits and challenges offered by CCS project shipping and pipeline solutions will be investigated and development hotspots and overall progress highlighted. Thereafter, the focus will be wholly on gas carriers. The type of CCS projects that will benefit from a shipping solution will come under scrutiny and the elements required to make a gas carrier-based, large-scale CO2 transportation project a reality will be described. The possibility of gas carriers complementing a pipeline CCS scheme will also come into focus. Other coverage will include optimised designs for the semi-pressurised/fully refrigerated (semi-ref) gas carriers that will be required for CCS projects and the experience of Maersk Tankers and Anthony Veder, two gas ship operators who have investigated this potential new market. TGE Marine Gas Engineering and LGE Weir will consider special cargo-handling plant needs for such ships and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering will outline the CO2 ship design work it has carried out. Finally, the place of storage facilities in the CO2 shipping supply chain will be dealt with by a representative from Vopak. The gas tanker industry is moving into new waters with CO2 shipping and it is the aim of Riviera Maritime Media, with its inaugural CO2 Shipping event, to describe the opportunities and highlight the challenges which lie ahead.