Federal and provincial governments took another step on plans to capture and store carbon emissions, committing $865 million in funding towards one project.
Federal Energy Minister Lisa Raitt and her provincial counterpart Mel Knight made the announcement in Edmonton Thursday afternoon.
“This, ladies and gentleman, is action,” Knight said on a conference call Thursday afternoon.
“This is the start of something very big.”
The $20-billion Quest project, a venture project between Shell Canada, Chevron Canada and Marathon Canada, will involve the Scotford oilsands upgrader and is designed to remove an estimated 1.2 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide, according to Shell.
The gas would then be transported approximately 10 kilometres via a pipeline to where it would be injected about 2,300 metres into the earth.
The project was one of three announced in June as potential recipients of a $2-billion Alberta bounty to develop carbon capture and storage. Other projects included Enhance Energy’s Alberta Carbon Trunk Line and Epcor/Enbridge’s retrofitting plan for the coal-burning Genesee power plant.
In May, the federal government announced a $1-billion clean energy fund, directing $850 million toward developing commercial technologies, including carbon capture and storage, with the remaining funds supporting research.
Supporters say carbon capture could remove millions of tonnes of emissions from the atmosphere while boosting oil production from aging fields. But the techonology is expensive and has yet to be commercialized.
lschmidt@theherald.canwest.com
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