Group GM Lean Strauss, who is responsible for Sasol Synfuels International and Sasol Petroleum International, tells Engineering News that an official project approval report, which will include the sequestration options, is scheduled to be handed to the Chinese government’s National Reform and Development Commission (NRDC) during the first half of 2010.

Official sanction is required from the NRDC before the project will be allowed to proceed, and Strauss reports that there has been strong support for Sasol’s aspiration to integrate CCS into the design of the facility. In fact, the group is hoping to become a world leader in CSS technology, viewing it as core to meeting its carbon reduction targets of 15% by 2020 at its existing operations and 30% by 2030 at its new CTL operation.