The delegates from the Center for Water Innovation and Sustainable Energy Research (WISE Center) at National Tsing Hua University visited Chiang Mai University, Thailand on October 4th, 2023 to meet with Dr. Suparit Tangparitkul in the Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering. Dr. Tangparitkul is also the director of Graduate Studies at CMU. Currently, Dr. Tangparitkul is collaborating with Dr. Chanchana at the MTEC, the location of WISE Research Center Office in Bangkok, to assist the Thai government in planning the 2050 net zero emission strategy. The Thai government plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065, and at least 38.8 and 61.5 Mt CO2 should be reduced by 2050 and 2065, respectively. Therefore, 5 possible CO2 storage sites in Thailand, including 2 offshore storage sites and 3 of the storage sites in the northern land basins, are planned, and CMU will be responsible for those storage sites in northern Thailand.
In return, the representative of Tsinghua University also explained the current research capability of Taiwan’s forward-looking technologies for net zero emission and carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to the Tangparitkul team. Both sides agreed that net-zero carbon emissions are currently an important global issue, and close international collaboration is an important strategy to promote net-zero carbon emissions. After the meeting, Dr. Tangparitkul also led the delegates from NTHU to visit the laboratory and mentioned that a national carbon sequestration laboratory will be established at Chiang Mai University next year to strengthen carbon sequestration technology research in Thailand.
Fig. 1. The experimental facility for carbon capture and storage at Chiang Mai University, Thailand.
Fig. 2. Photo with Dr. Suparit Tangparitkul and team member