Chile, Bulgaria, Georgia and the Dominican Republic have all joined the international partnership’s ranks to advance cost-effective methane recovery and use technologies.
Methane to Markets began the year by welcoming Chile as its 28th partner, a country it said shared the group’s goals of developing cost-effective renewable energy that was local and sustainable. Chile is seeking to expand and broaden its portfolio of methane emissions reduction projects.
In mid-May, the partnership added its 29th member, Bulgaria. A nation offering project development activities for methane reduction primarily from landfills, its Ministry of Environment and Water will oversee potential areas of collaboration with others.
Georgia was the 30th partner country to join Methane to Markets, and in August it also joined the Coal Mine and Oil and Gas Systems subcommittees of the association in hopes of helping bring methane emissions down within its borders.
“Production restarted in 2008 from the Tkibuli coal mine, which is estimated to have approximately 300 million tons of reserves,” M2M noted.
“USTDA [the US Trade and Development Agency] awarded a grant to a joint Georgian-US venture to study the feasibility of methane capture and use at the mine.”
Finally, at the group’s recent steering committee meeting in Washington, DC, September 10 and 11, it formally enrolled the Dominican Republic as its 31st member country. The event, which focused on the partnership’s future, welcomed representatives from 14 member countries at the Hotel Monaco to discuss how best to progress as an enhanced and expanded M2M Partnership.
The association is now concentrating on its second Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, scheduled for March 2-5, 2010, in New Delhi, India.
Organizers of the event, hosted at the Taj Palace Hotel, are anticipating more than 1000 participants and will highlight more than 100 potential methane capture and utilization project opportunities.
The group is soliciting abstracts for its technical presentation sessions. Those wishing to be considered for inclusion have until October 30 to contact organizers with an abstract.
The group will also host methane recovery and use projects in a dedicated poster area. Templates for that feature will be accepted until November 15.
The first Methane to Markets Partnership Expo, hosted in 2007 in Beijing, China, welcomed 750 visitors from 34 countries.
Aside from the new members, other countries in the fold include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.
