South Africa’s Council for Geoscience (CGS) inaugurated the country’s first carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) research site in Leandra in Mpumalanga province.
The pilot falls under efforts by the South African government to reduce the country’s carbon footprint, according to Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister, Gwede Mantashe.
The inauguration marks the completion of Phase 1 of the CCUS pilot project since its launch in 2021, with support from the World Bank. Mosa Mabusa, CEO of the CGS, added “These findings reveal the site’s capacity to store up to 34 gigatonnes of CO2, paving the way for Phase 2, which will focus on design, construction and the injection phase.”
Phase 2 will be deployed in partnership with the Mpumalanga provincial Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism. CCUS research in South Africa began in 2004 with the launch of pilot by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
