Mozambique: Government committed to produce zero carbon natural gas

Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Max Tonela, this Friday reiterated the country’s commitment to exporting carbon-free natural gas, using technologies which curb pollutant emissions by oil companies.

“The government has decided to embark on a gas decarbonisation process. Although we have a gas that already has a small emission content, we are prioritising the use of pre-existing decarbonisation technologies,” Minister Tonela said.

Speaking to journalists about the future of fossil energy in the face of growing global concern about climate change, the minister noted that the oil industry had developed technologies to remove carbon from gas and return the pollutant to its source, with a view to exporting a clean product.

Max Tonela said that Mozambican natural gas has little “polluting content”, and will be decisive in deactivating coal-fired power stations in southern Africa and elsewhere, in the context of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

“We are going to see an increase in gas consumption, as it is the least polluting among fossil fuels, and we are also going to see an accelerated increase in renewable energies, which are still an intermittent energy source,” Minister Tonela said.

Mozambique, with its huge gas deposits, wants to be an active player in decarbonisation, using the resource for the economic development of the country, of southern Africa and other countries, he added.