Impact of Climate Change on Arab Countries - (IPCC) - Working ...

ARAB ENVIRONMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE 27
underway, but mostly they are in the early stages
<strong>of</strong> development in many countries.
III. MEASURE OF CARBON SEQUESTRA-
TION AND STORAGE
Mitigation <strong>of</strong> GHG means implementing policies
and measures to reduce anthropogenic GHG
emissions from sources such as power plants,
industrial facilities and the transport sector, as
well as to enhance natural GHG sinks such as
forests, land use change and carbon capture and
storage (CCS). This section discusses enhancements
<strong>of</strong> carbon sinks through afforestations and
CO 2 capture & storage.
Land use change: Afforestation
There is a widespread recognition <strong>of</strong> the potential
<strong>of</strong> forests and land-use changes for <strong>of</strong>fsetting
emissions <strong>of</strong> GHGs. Measures proposed in
national communications included promoting
programmes <strong>of</strong> conservation, regeneration, reforestation,
and afforestation.
In Sudan, two main groups <strong>of</strong> mitigation options
were considered for increasing carbon sequestration
and storage. The first group represents
afforestation and rehabilitation options. These
options refer to the afforestation and rehabilitation
<strong>of</strong> wastelands, together with afforestation <strong>of</strong>
10% <strong>of</strong> the rain fed land and 5% <strong>of</strong> the irrigated
agricultural land. The second group represents
management options, which involve a natural
resource management approach based on the
conservation and rehabilitation <strong>of</strong> degraded
forests and rangelands. Reforestation and biomass
conservation projects are also key elements
in Djibouti’s proposed programme <strong>of</strong> action.
Tunisia reported on a concerted approach with
neighbouring countries, and with the international
community for the implementation <strong>of</strong> a
program aimed at combating desertification.
Similar projects were also reported in
Mauritania, Djibouti, and Morocco.
A promising CDM afforestation project is currently
being proposed by the Egyptian
Environmental Affairs Agency. The Greater
Cairo Ring Road Afforestation project will help
improve the air quality <strong>of</strong> Cairo. The forest that
will be planted will be irrigated by treated agricultural
drainage water and will absorb about
100,000 tons <strong>of</strong> CO 2eq annually, helping to <strong>of</strong>fset
the carbon emissions from vehicles, industry
and power plants. The project is currently under
development. In addition, Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC) conducted a
preliminary study on the Egyptian Bi<strong>of</strong>uel
Industry Development in June, 2007. Jatropha
test cultivation was started in 2003 as a part <strong>of</strong>
Egypt’s afforestation program. The Egyptian
Jatropha yield turned out to be the highest production
level compared to the Asian and African
non-irrigated cultivation. Although the primary
purposes <strong>of</strong> the Egyptian Jatropha model are
anti-desertification and beneficial use <strong>of</strong> treated
wastewater, the high production results caught
the attention <strong>of</strong> private bi<strong>of</strong>uel producers. Under
that study, JBIC proposed an integrated strategic
plan to realize the new bi<strong>of</strong>uel industry with a
“Public Private Partnership” (JDI, 2007).
Another remarkable afforestation experience is in
the UAE. According to the Environmental Agency
- Abu Dhabi, “Over the last few decades, over 120
million trees have been planted, as well as 25 million
date palms. Over 92,000 hectares have been
planted with forest trees. These are now helping to
reverse the process <strong>of</strong> desertification and to stabilize
the sand dunes that once moved inexorably
across the land. They also provide attractive new
habitats for wildlife, with many species <strong>of</strong> animals
and birds increasing rapidly in numbers as they
colonise the new areas <strong>of</strong> vegetation”
(Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi, 2006).
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
CO 2 capture & storage (CCS) is a process comprised
<strong>of</strong> three steps. The first is CO 2 capture
from CO 2 point sources such as power plants,
industrial facilities, and natural gas wells with high
CO 2 content emissions. The second step is transportation
via pipelines to the storage site; and the
third step is geological storage in deep geological
formations including saline formations, depleted
oil/gas fields, coal seams, and enhanced oil or gas
recovery sites. In the combustion processes, CO 2
can be captured either in pre-combustion mode
by treatment <strong>of</strong> fossil fuels or in post-combustion
mode by treatment <strong>of</strong> the flue gases. Due to
economies <strong>of</strong> scale, large point sources <strong>of</strong> CO 2
emissions have the highest potential <strong>of</strong> CO 2 capture.
These include large industries such as oil and