Alberta funds province-based CCUS research

The government of Alberta, through its Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) said March 3 it would provide more than C$2mn in funding to four Alberta-based carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) research projects.

Additional funding for the four projects, together representing investments of about C$24mn, will come from eight countries through Alberta’s partnership in Accelerating CCS Technologies (ACT), a consortium of 15 research and innovation funding organisations from 16 countries.

“Partnerships and investments like these are critical to helping Alberta leverage investments in CCUS,” Alberta environment and parks minister Jason Nixon said. “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.”

Projects include capturing and converting CO₂ 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 CO₂.

The four projects receiving funding are:

• Carbonova, which will receive C$543,000 for its research into carbon reforming to help the transition to a lower-emissions era. ACT partners include France and Switzerland.
• The University of Alberta will receive C$507,000 for research into effective monitoring of long-term site stability for transparent carbon capture and storage hazard assessment. France and Norway are also providing funding.
• The U of A will also receive C$745,000 for advanced multitemporal modelling and optimisation of CO₂ transport, utilisation and storage networks. ACT partners include France, Netherlands, Romania, the UK and the US.
• Carbon Management Canada will receive C$345,000 for its work researching the use of depleted oil and gas fields for CO₂ sequestration. ACT partners include Germany, Netherlands, Norway and the UK.