Alberta is officially putting its money where its mouth is on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai. And beating the federal government to the punch.That’s because Premier Danielle Smith, alongside Environment and Energy Ministers Rebecca Schulz and Brian Jean fleshed out the details of the UCP government’s long anticipated carbon incentive plan to capture, store and utilize carbon emissions from facilities such as oil sands upgraders, electrical plants and cement factories..“This technology is important because we're working to phase out emissions not phasing out energy production.”Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.Under the plan, modelled after the existing petrochemical program, the government will offer up credits and rebates for 12% of eligible costs. At a media event in Edmonton on Tuesday, Smith said she expects to attract about $35 billion in new investment at a cost of $3.5 billion to $5 billion to taxpayers.The purpose of the program is to ensure Alberta becomes the undisputed global leader in CCUS technology while ensuring continued, sustainable production from areas like the oil sands.“As you may know Alberta is a globally recognized leader in carbon capture, utilization and storage in both development and regulation. We have and will continue to invest billions into carbon capture projects and programs as well as regulatory enhancements and knowledge sharing and Alberta is busy proving CCUS works at scale and has the potential to become a powerful tool for building carbon neutral economies,” she said. “This technology is important because we're working to phase out emissions not phasing out energy production.”.It’s not a flight of fancy. Alberta is already one of the largest GHG sequestering jurisdictions in the world with the Quest facility at the Shell Scotford refinery near Edmonton and initiatives such as the Pathways Alliance which aims to make oil sands carbon neutral by 2050. It has already spent about $16 billion to develop one of the world’s largest carbon hubs.Smith will lead a delegation of more than 100 government and industry representatives to the COP28 summit in Dubai next where she will pitch Alberta’s leadership on the climate file opposite her federal counterpart, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who is widely expected to pitch the idea of banning fossil fuels.Smith said it was important to get a jump ahead of the conference to demonstrate the strides Alberta has already made on the carbon file, but also to attract potential investment dollars from global equity funds in the region..And on that front, Energy Minister Brian Jean said Alberta is more than willing to store other countries’ — including the US — owing to a combination of natural geology and existing regulatory regime.He insisted that Alberta has the capacity to store 100% of global emissions, if investors are so inclined.“I would just say that we have a specific geology and the legal system of land in place that allows us to be truly the global leader on this… come to Alberta, we're open for business, we can store your GHGs we can store your CO2,” he said.“That's what the experts have told me, we have a geology that is second to none in the world and one of the top three in the world. And given our legal process here, it gives us a competitive advantage over the United States. So I would just say we are open for business, we can store their CO2 right here in Alberta for many, many years to come, if not forever.“
Alberta is officially putting its money where its mouth is on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai. And beating the federal government to the punch.That’s because Premier Danielle Smith, alongside Environment and Energy Ministers Rebecca Schulz and Brian Jean fleshed out the details of the UCP government’s long anticipated carbon incentive plan to capture, store and utilize carbon emissions from facilities such as oil sands upgraders, electrical plants and cement factories..“This technology is important because we're working to phase out emissions not phasing out energy production.”Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.Under the plan, modelled after the existing petrochemical program, the government will offer up credits and rebates for 12% of eligible costs. At a media event in Edmonton on Tuesday, Smith said she expects to attract about $35 billion in new investment at a cost of $3.5 billion to $5 billion to taxpayers.The purpose of the program is to ensure Alberta becomes the undisputed global leader in CCUS technology while ensuring continued, sustainable production from areas like the oil sands.“As you may know Alberta is a globally recognized leader in carbon capture, utilization and storage in both development and regulation. We have and will continue to invest billions into carbon capture projects and programs as well as regulatory enhancements and knowledge sharing and Alberta is busy proving CCUS works at scale and has the potential to become a powerful tool for building carbon neutral economies,” she said. “This technology is important because we're working to phase out emissions not phasing out energy production.”.It’s not a flight of fancy. Alberta is already one of the largest GHG sequestering jurisdictions in the world with the Quest facility at the Shell Scotford refinery near Edmonton and initiatives such as the Pathways Alliance which aims to make oil sands carbon neutral by 2050. It has already spent about $16 billion to develop one of the world’s largest carbon hubs.Smith will lead a delegation of more than 100 government and industry representatives to the COP28 summit in Dubai next where she will pitch Alberta’s leadership on the climate file opposite her federal counterpart, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who is widely expected to pitch the idea of banning fossil fuels.Smith said it was important to get a jump ahead of the conference to demonstrate the strides Alberta has already made on the carbon file, but also to attract potential investment dollars from global equity funds in the region..And on that front, Energy Minister Brian Jean said Alberta is more than willing to store other countries’ — including the US — owing to a combination of natural geology and existing regulatory regime.He insisted that Alberta has the capacity to store 100% of global emissions, if investors are so inclined.“I would just say that we have a specific geology and the legal system of land in place that allows us to be truly the global leader on this… come to Alberta, we're open for business, we can store your GHGs we can store your CO2,” he said.“That's what the experts have told me, we have a geology that is second to none in the world and one of the top three in the world. And given our legal process here, it gives us a competitive advantage over the United States. So I would just say we are open for business, we can store their CO2 right here in Alberta for many, many years to come, if not forever.“
