The management of fossil fuels as sustainable sources of energy in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

Anthropogenic C02 emission is today believed to change future climates and to cause severe environmental and economic damage on a global scale. A major component of this emission is attributed to the use of fossil fuel, making the unmitigated use of this fuel unsustainable. To mitigate this problem, Kyoto and the EU's Cap and Trade program set emissions targets for countries or large companies. Those that exceed their allowances need to sequester C02 or purchase carbon credits from countries or companies that do not need their allotment, or create credits through green projects. This thesis looks at the problem of C02 emission resulting from the use of fossil fuel and reviews the available techniques of C02 sequestration to arrive at a sustainable management system for the use of fossil fuel in the Maltese Islands. The use of fossil fuel is here defined as sustainable if it has zero impact on future climates. The current use of fossil fuel in the Maltese Islands has zero sustainability. However, given the relatively small quantities of C02 emission of Malta and the presence of only two power stations (one after 2012), Malta has the potential of achieving full sustainability through a combination of C02 sequestration and green projects. Given the presence of very deep marine areas close to the Maltese islands, marine storage offers a great potential for C02 sequestration. Captured C02 could be transported by pipeline to one of several deep offshore areas close to the islands and injected to form C02 lakes or be dispersed on the deep abyssal plains. Two such potential sites are identified, one in the Malta Trough to the west of the island, and the other at the foot of the Malta Escarpment to the east. Additionally, carbon offsets could be created through forestation and green projects under Joint Implementation or Clean Development Mechanism schemes initiated through diplomatic initiatives with countries that offer large tracks of wasteland suitable for forestation.