Alberta Rolls Out Funding for Methane Cuts

The Alberta government on September 25 rolled out another tranche of investments to support methane emission reductions and create jobs in the provincial economy following an earlier announcement last week of funding to support carbon capture utilisation and storage initiatives.

The latest disbursement from the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (Tier) fund includes C$52mn (US$38.8mn) that will cut methane emissions by about 1.5mn mt right away and set the stage for further reductions. Tier is funded by Alberta’s large industrial emitters who pay into the fund when they do not meet government-set emissions targets.

“Albertans know what is best for our province, and have been leaders of responsible methane management for years,” environment and parks minister Jason Nixon said. “Today’s announcement builds on our strengths by supporting the entrepreneurs and innovators who are the bedrock of our province.”

The province is using C$25mn of Tier funding to provide a grant to Carbon Connect International to implement the Methane Technology Implementation Program (MTIP). MTIP offers a 50% rebate for purchasing emissions reduction equipment, to a maximum of C$1mn per eligible upstream oil and gas operator.

Another C$27mn is being allocated to the Methane Emissions Management Program (MEMP), a two-part initiative to help industry identify emission reduction opportunities to better leverage provincial and federal programs and enable innovation.

The first part of MEMP is the Baseline Reduction Opportunities Assessment Program, which will be supported by C$10mn of Tier funding. The program will help small and medium-sized producers identify on-site methane emission sources and increase their awareness of available federal and provincial funding programs.

The second part is the Fugitive Emissions Management Program, which will receive C$17mn from Tier to fund new research and demonstration activities that assist with detection, repair and measurement of methane emissions. Additional details will be released later this fall.

“The Government of Alberta has built a suite of programs supporting the three most critical components of methane mitigation: inventory, measurement, and deployment,” said Jackson Hegland, executive director of the Methane Emissions Leadership Alliance. “This approach will ensure that emission reductions are achieved in the most efficient, consistent manner possible and that jobs growth occurs throughout the value chain.”