The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Saudi Aramco have agreed to establish a research center to develop technologies to capture, store and utilize carbon dioxide.

Korea’s leading research institution and the world’s top oil developer signed a memorandum of understanding in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.

They will build a new facility with a total floor space of 16,500 square meters in the school’s campus in Daejeon.

KAIST said the center will be financed equally by the two sides, without specifying the amount. Their collaboration will run initially for six years and could be extended.

They will work to develop commercially viable processes for carbon capture and storage as well as utilization.

Carbon capturing and storage is a vital technology to fight climate change as it traps carbon emissions from power stations and factories and permanently stores them in underground facilities. It promises to allow industries to continue using cheap coal and oil while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists and energy businesses are shifting attention to new carbon utilization technologies that involve using and converting CO2 to produce food, beverages, bio and renewable fuels, and chemical feedstock among others.

“As demand for petroleum and natural gas is expected to increase due to a rising world population and continued economic development, it is imperative that we collaborate with top industry partners to overcome the world’s sustainability challenges and find innovative and sustainable solutions that will benefit all of mankind, ” KAIST President Suh Nam-pyo said in a statement.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)