Japan's government plans to formulate safety and environmental protection guidelines for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in an effort to spur development of the technology, a Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry official said Feb. 23. The ministry is reviewing laws and regulations that may need to be amended or newly written, including the Ocean Contamination Prevention Law, said Nobu-hiko Watanabe, deputy general manager of the ministry's Global Environment Technology Office. As part of its ratification in 2007 of the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, Japan amended its law to add provisions on carbon dioxide and CCS. But because CCS requires not only storage but also compressing and transporting carbon dioxide in gas and liquid form, Watanabe said the ministry is considering amending or writing additional laws to ensure safety and environmental protection.
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