The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology says it will open the world’s first carbon dioxide recovery and collection pilot plant.

The ministry says that it has succeeded in developing the technology needed to recover CO2, a major cause of global warming.

The ministry is planning to have a ceremony to mark the completion of a pilot CO2 recovery plant at a Korea Southern Power Company coal power plant in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province on Friday.

CO2 recovery and collection entails collecting large amounts of the gas that are emitted at places that use a lot of energy, including at thermoelectric power plants. The technology is projected to account for 19 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2050.

Although the U.S. and Japan are developing and investing in such plants for commercial use, the ministry says Korea is the first nation to build a pilot plant for the sole purpose of CO2 recovery.