CAIRO - Tarek El Molla Egypt's Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla announced a project to capture and store carbon dioxide in the Meleiha field, in cooperation with the Italian company Eni, at an investment cost of $25 million to capture and store between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

In a statement the Minister said the first project focuses on the extraction of algae oil to be used in biofuel production, with an annual production capacity of 350,000 tonnes with an investment of 600 million dollars, which contributes to the reduction of 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

The second is about the production of biodegradable plastics with a production capacity of 75,000 tonnes, with an investment of 600 million dollars, with the aim of reducing 45,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

The third project is to convert plastic waste into oil to be used as a raw material in polyethylene production, with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes and investments of 50 million dollars, and to reduce 63,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.