The provincial government is granting $1.4 million to an Edmonton firm to be the first cement facility in North America to examine the feasibility of carbon capture and storage (CCS)..If successful, Lehigh Cement’s Edmonton plant could avoid up to 90 per cent of its current emissions per year and create about 20 full-time jobs, said the government in a release..Lehigh Cement Edmonton estimates a capture rate of 600,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. If 90 per cent of those emissions were captured, Lehigh would avoid 540,000 tonnes of emissions annually – the same as taking 104,000 cars off the road for one year..Environment minister Jason Nixon said the project aligns with the province’s TIER – Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction – plan that will take effect on Jan. 1..TIER targets industries with emissions over 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. They will have the choice of lowering their emissions by 10 per cent, paying $30 per tonne on emissions that don’t meet the reduction targets, or buying credits from other companies that have exceeded their required reductions..Computer models show TIER should knock Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions down by 32 to 57 megatonnes..“Once again, Alberta is ahead of the pack. Exploring CCS to reduce emissions in the cement industry is a prime example of the innovative, game-changing technology our TIER system will support. It also shows the bold leadership and entrepreneurial spirit of our industries, that continue to set an example by seeking out unique solutions and untapped technologies that can lower emissions at home and around the world,” said Nixon..CCS is a technology that can capture and store more than 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes, preventing the emissions from entering the atmosphere.
