News Releases

UWI and UTT Launch Climate Change Strategy:The Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate

For Release Upon Receipt - June 12, 2024

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. June 12, 2024 – The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus, and The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) have partnered to produce the Caribbean’s first catalog of carbon storage sites - in depleted oil and gas reservoirs throughout Trinidad and Tobago - as a climate change mitigation plan.

This joint initiative is spearheaded by the Faculty of Engineering and UWI’s Engineering Institute alongside the Energy Systems Engineering Unit of The University of Trinidad and Tobago. On May 01, 2024 both Universities signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and simultaneously launched The Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). The CCUS-C is an integral part of Trinidad and Tobago’s climate change response as it aims to reduce this country’s carbon emissions. It is supported by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, private-sector energy stakeholders, and international partners.

The UWI is committed to supporting the State’s international commitment to sustain global warming temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. As a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, Trinidad and Tobago is well-poised to fulfil this mandate while becoming a regional leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS) - which inhibits carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere - through UWI’s and UTT’s collaboration.

Speaking at the event, The UWI’s Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine noted,

“The UWI has a distinguished record of leading scientists on climate change and a longstanding tradition of research and scholarship on climate studies and the environment, which we are proud to bring to this partnership. In fact, our decades of research and advocacy have led The International Association of Universities (IAU) to designate The UWI as the global leader in achieving a climate-smart world.”

Professor Antoine added that The UWI and UTT have successfully worked together in the past. She noted that this strategic MOU, is necessary

“To embark on a self-financing UWI/UTT Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Collaborative as a Research and Development Centre of Excellence. This would allow us to help our country take a significant step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting our global commitments.”

The MOU enables both universities to offer consultancies, practical training, and academic interventions such as short courses, leading to a new Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Carbon and Gas Management.

The event was attended by Mr Tim Dixon General Manager of the IEAGHG who applauded Trinidad and Tobago for being the first country to be awarded funding support from the GCF for CCUS

END

Photo Captions:

 

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine gives opening remarks at the UWI/ UTT MoU signing for the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). 

 

A packed audience of The UWI and UTT staff as well as representatives from private sector energy inclusive of Heritage Petroleum, bpTT, SHELL, Perenco, Woodside Energy, Proman, NGC and more, listen attentively to Mr. Keshore Lutchman, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development as he announces government support for the CCUS-C initiative at The UWI/ UTT MoU signing for the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). 

 

[L-R] Mr. Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager - IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme chats with Professor Raffie Hosein - UWI Department of Chemical Engineering and Professor Bheshem Ramlal, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the UWI/ UTT MoU signing for the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). 

 

Acting President of the UTT Professor Stephen Joseph shakes hands with Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine following The UWI/ UTT MoU signing for the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). 

 

[Centre] Professor Clement Imbert, Chairman UTT stands with Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine along with UWI and UTT staff, as well as government officials, Mrs. Penelope Bradshaw-Niles, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Mr. Keshore Lutchman, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Development and more all in support of the UWI/ UTT MoU signing for the Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Collaborate (CCUS-C). 

 

About The University of the West Indies

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development, residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region for over 75 years.

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Global Campus, and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and the wider world.

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the best in the world by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). Since The UWI’s 2018 debut in THE’s rankings, it has performed well in multiple schemes—among them including World University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings (between 50 and 80 years old), Latin America Rankings, and the Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Well-being; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

Learn more at www.uwi.edu   

 

Contact