 Environment - February 2, 2008 |
|
CCS technology could keep 600 megatonnes of emissions out of the air
Carbon capture needs cash |
By Kevin Ma
Staff Writer
|
The government should immediately invest $2 billion to start piping carbon emissions from the oilsands underground, says a federal task force.
The federal Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force published its recommendations Thursday. The group was asked by the federal government last year to study how Canada could create a large carbon capture and sequestration network.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a technology that could take greenhouse gas emissions from industry, compress them and pipe them deep underground where they will presumably stay for thousands of years. Both the federal and provincial governments have identified it as an essential part of their plans to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
"Carbon dioxide capture and storage is essential if Canada and the world are to address the carbon challenge," the panel found, but industry cannot afford to do it alone. The federal and provincial governments should immediately invest $2 billion to build a CCS system, it recommended, with industry chipping in $2 to $4 billion.
If built, the panel found, the system should be able to divert five megatonnes of carbon dioxide a year underground, equivalent to taking about 1.4 million cars off the road. Carbon capture technology could ultimately divert 600 megatonnes of gas a year by 2050, they estimated — equivalent to 80 per cent of Canada’s current emissions.
Essential and workable
Canada’s economic growth is inextricably linked to fossil fuels, the panel found, both in terms of oilsands production and coal-fired power plants, but those fuels have also raised the country’s emissions by about 25 per cent since 1990. Energy production alone accounts for 82 per cent of Canada’s emissions, according to Environment Canada.
Carbon capture technology is ready to work, said Ben Rostron, a hydrogeologist at the University of Alberta, but it’s also very expensive. The CCS project he worked on in Weyburn, Sask. — one of Canada’s first — cost $20 million. High costs mean industry won’t rush to build these networks on their own, he said, and he doubted the government had the will to force them to do so. "Everyone’s standing around waiting for someone to take the plunge," he said. "Without some push in terms of money, it just isn’t going to get done fast enough."
Industry shouldn’t have to bear the cost of CCS alone, said Stephen Kaufman, chair of the Integrated CO2 Network (an industry group that lobbies for CCS), since the bulk of their emissions come from making electricity for the public. The $2 billion is also close to what the federal government has invested in renewable energy, he added.
Governments need to start construction now if CCS was to work, the panel found. Industry has planned some $150 billion of investment in the oilsands over the next few years, and those factories will be built without carbon-capture unless a system is ready for them. Just 450 megatonnes of storage is available right now, it noted, or less than 10 megatonnes a year for 50 years.
Canada and Alberta have a huge capacity for carbon storage, Rostron said, including old oil wells and deep aquifers. "You could take all of Alberta’s emissions for 100 years without any problem." Research suggests these underground stores could hold onto carbon dioxide for about 5,000 years without significant risk, he said.
Kaufman said it would be very challenging to get 600 megatonnes of storage a year as the panel has proposed — his group thought Alberta could manage about 100.
Despite its potential, Rostron and Kaufman agreed that CCS alone would not solve Canada’s climate change problem. "CCS is a transitional approach," Kaufman said, one designed to cut emissions as the world moves off of fossil fuels. Alternate fuels, energy conservation and renewable energy will all be necessary to permanently reduce emissions. "We’re going to need to do everything we can."
The panel’s report is available at www.energy.gov.ab.ca. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Navigate |
|
|
|
| More News |
|
|
|
| Contact Us |
|
|
|
|
