Alberta prioritizes oil sands' carbon storage hub, energy minister says
The government of Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing province, plans to move forward "very, very quickly" on its next carbon sequestration hub in the Cold Lake region that will serve oil sands producers, Energy Minister Sonya Savage told Reuters.
Alberta is currently accepting requests for proposals to operate an underground carbon storage hub serving the Alberta Industrial Heartland (AIH) zone near Edmonton. The process to select an operator for another hub near Cold Lake will come "on the heels" of that, Savage said in an interview late on Thursday.
"We are going to need to move on Cold Lake very, very quickly after Heartland," Savage said. "It's a hub that will give certainty to oil sands and heavy oil production."
The government is keen to move forward this year on several carbon storage hubs, where an operator will sequester both their own and third-party emissions, so industries in different areas of the provinces are not at a competitive disadvantage.
Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is expected to be a key part of global efforts to contain emissions from fossil fuel production. It involves capturing carbon produced from heavy industrial processes like upgrading oil sands bitumen and storing it permanently underground.
"CCUS is probably my number one priority file at the moment," Savage said.
Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, said on Thursday his organization considered CCUS to be one of the three most critical decarbonization technologies.
Alberta is aiming to aggressively expand its CCUS industry to help cut emissions and safeguard the future of its energy industry as the world aims for net-zero emissions by 2050. Savage's comments show how that plan is taking shape.
There has also been "tremendous interest" in a hub in the Grand Prairie region, where a lot of natural gas processing takes place, Savage added.
Alberta announced last year it would hold a competitive process for how it allocates underground pore space after a number of companies including Royal Dutch Shell, TC Energy and an alliance of oil sands producers proposed CCS projects.
Savage said the province received nearly 50 expressions of interest in leasing pore space rights from industries ranging from energy to petrochemicals to fertilizer production.
The government asked for formal proposals for the AIH first because they received the most interest in that area, and a number of proposals competing for the exact same underground pore space, Savage said.
Alberta plans to select the AIH sequestration hub operators by the end of March, and Savage said projects that will be up and running quickly are more likely to be successful.
"We have suggested to industry that time is of the essence, we'll be weighted more heavily towards project proposals that will be in service at an earlier date," she said.
Savage said all projects will have to go through a regulatory process, and would likely take a couple of years to start operating.
Reporting by Nia Williams Editing by Marguerita Choy
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Bayer recalls hydraSense baby product over 'potential contamination'
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
N.L. gardening store revives 19th century seed-packing machine
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.