The Egyptian government and Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni, have embarked on developing a $25 million, multi-phased carbon capture and storage project that aims to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Based in the Meleiha field in the northern part of the country, the project has been unveiled as part of the build-up to Egypt hosting COP27 in Sharm El Sheik later this year.

The first phase of the project will comprise extracting algae oil for biofuel production, with an annual production capacity of 350,000 tons at $600 million, leading to the reduction of up to 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to H.E. Tarek El Molla, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

The second phase entails the production of 75,000 tons of biodegradable plastics with investment to the tune of $600 million whereby the reduction of 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually is targeted.

Finally, the third phase will focus on converting plastic waste into oil to be used as raw material in polyethylene production. At a cost of $50 million, this project phase is expected to have an annual output of 30,000 tons and aims to reduce 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

With Egypt contributing approximately 0.6% of global emissions, the project will be instrumental for meeting the Paris Agreement’s goal of emission and temperature reductions.