Alberta’s government is using more than $2 million from the TIER fund through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) for four innovative, Alberta-based CCUS projects worth about $24 million.
Additional investment comes from eight countries through an international partnership with Accelerating CCS Technologies (ACT). ACT is a collaboration of 15 research and innovation funding organizations from 16 countries. Alberta is the first subnational member.
“Partnerships and investments like these are critical to helping Alberta leverage investments in CCUS. These innovative, world-class technologies will increase the value of our natural resources. These projects build on Alberta’s existing CCUS investments like Shell Quest, the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line and the Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre, making our province a key player in developing solutions and knowledge to share with the world.”
“CCUS is one of the world’s most promising clean energy technologies and Alberta has undertaken some extraordinary things in this space. This collaboration will create more opportunities, more jobs and more expertise in Alberta’s booming tech sector. Once again, Alberta is positioned to be an innovation leader.”
Projects include capturing and converting carbon dioxide and waste heat from a cement plant into substances that can be used in the building and transportation sectors, and using depleted oil and gas reservoirs as safe and cost-effective long-term storage sites for carbon dioxide.
“The task of scaling up and deploying CCUS technologies is too great for one company, one organization or one jurisdiction to take on alone. Building on our international relationships and credibility, ERA is helping to find solutions by bringing the world to Alberta, and by taking Alberta’s innovation to the world.”
CCUS technology can capture, use and store up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in industrial activities, preventing those emissions from entering the atmosphere. Alberta is already a leader in this area, having taken considerable steps with commercial-scale funding, regulatory enhancements and knowledge sharing. The government’s latest TIER investment through ERA and partnership with ACT keeps this momentum going.
“The climate issue is something we need a global approach to. Four out of the 13 new ACT-funded projects have Canadian partners and consortia built of research partners from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, the U.S.A. and the U.K. The knowledge that Alberta has in this space is highly acknowledged and serves our ambition to make CCUS a commercially viable climate mitigation technology."
“Commercial-scale implementation of new technologies and innovative ideas is a critical part of optimizing our business and contributing to society’s net-zero goals. This funding will advance and accelerate our project, which has the potential to significantly increase capacity for permanent geological storage of carbon dioxide in Alberta.”
"Within Alberta, CCUS is an important component of a portfolio of technologies needed to achieve our climate and energy development goals. This support will allow us to establish an assessment tool to support the development of fit-for-purpose, future-proof CCUS networks of expected CO2 supply from a variety of sources.”
“The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is a problem that exists beyond geographical borders, and it requires creating a solution that is globally applicable while managing the world's demand for energy, sustainable food, a place to live and transportation for everyone. Government of Alberta funding through ERA funding through ACT 3 is enabling contributions among nations to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time while providing an opportunity for Canadian-developed innovation to be implemented globally.”
Quick facts
- In 2020, ERA announced a partnership with ACT to invest in world-class innovation that can lead to safe and cost-effective CCUS technologies.
- ERA invests revenues from the TIER fund to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative clean technology solutions.
- Since 2009, ERA has committed $820 million toward 220 projects worth $6.5 billion. These projects are estimated to cut more than 42 million tonnes of emissions by 2030.
- The four Alberta-based projects being supported are:
- Carbonova Corp: Carbon reforming to economic additives for transitioning into a lower-emissions era.
- Project value: $1,800,000
- ERA commitment: $543,000
- ACT partners: France, Switzerland
- University of Alberta: Effective monitoring of long-term site stability for transparent carbon capture and storage hazard assessment.
- Project value: $3,600,000
- ERA commitment: $507,000
- ACT partners: France, Norway
- Carbon Management Canada: Reusing depleted oil and gas fields for carbon dioxide sequestration.
- Project value: $11,000,000
- ERA commitment: $345,000
- ACT partners: Germany, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom
- University of Alberta: Advanced multitemporal modelling and optimization of carbon dioxide transport, utilization and storage networks.
- Project value: $7,300,000
- ERA commitment: $745,000
- ACT partners: France, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, U.S.A.
- Carbonova Corp: Carbon reforming to economic additives for transitioning into a lower-emissions era.