Global CCS Institute appoints General Manager – Asia Pacific

The Global CCS Institute has appointed Alex Zapantis as the General Manager – Asia Pacific for the institute.

“Alex brings to the role a deep passion and long-abiding interest in CCS, from both a technology and policy perspective. He will bring a wealth of commercial and government knowledge to the Institute on energy and sustainability matters,” said Brad Page, CEO of the Global CCS Institute.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been a key focus for several countries across the Asia Pacific region, with projects at various stages of development and scale in Australia, China, Japan and Korea.

“Fast-growing economies, such as China and India, really are the engine room of the global economy, and effective strategies to decarbonise these important nations are essential to global efforts to limit the impact of climate change. Nations with such ambitious growth aspirations for their people have recognised the importance of developing affordable, low-carbon solutions to their energy demands,” added Page. “CCS is a vital technology for meeting the world’s targets for mitigating global warming at least cost – the very objective is simply impossible without CCS.”

“Nations such as Japan have a long history of technological innovation and excellence, and that expertise is making invaluable contributions to the global progress of CCS,” he continued. “The Tomakomai CCS Demonstration project that became operational earlier this year is a clear example of the technological developments underway in this important region of the world.”

Before joining the institute, Mr Zapantis held a number of roles at Rio Tinto Energy and Rio Tinto Coal Australia, with a focus on energy and climate policy, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas management and product stewardship as applied to coal and uranium. He has served on the boards of the Energy Policy Institute of Australia, Australian Coal Association Low Emissions Technology Ltd, the World Coal Association and the Coal Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Agency.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/08062016/global-ccs-institute-appoints-general-manager-asia-pacific-921/