Key Provincial Policies, Centers, and Pilot Projects in CCUS

Alberta: A Hub for Large-Scale CCUS Deployment and Innovation

Alberta plays a pivotal role in Canada’s Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) landscape, serving as the country’s largest center for CCUS infrastructure and innovation. Given the province’s substantial oil and gas production, Alberta has both a significant carbon footprint and the industrial capacity to integrate CCUS as a mitigation strategy. This has led to the development of several high-profile projects aimed at capturing, storing, and, in some cases, repurposing carbon dioxide emissions. The province’s CCUS projects showcase a mix of large-scale implementation and specialized research, reflecting Alberta’s commitment to reducing emissions from its energy-intensive sectors.

Key Projects

• Quest Facility: Operated by Shell Canada, the Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facility is one of the largest and most established CCUS projects in Alberta. Located near Fort Saskatchewan, Quest captures over one million tonnes of CO₂ per year from oil sands production and permanently stores it in deep geological formations. Since its launch in 2015, Quest has become a global example of commercial-scale carbon capture in oil sands operations, providing critical insights into the long-term viability and costs of CCUS in fossil fuel industries. Quest has been supported by the Government of Alberta and has contributed to Alberta’s status as a CCUS pioneer. (🔗Read More: Quest CCS Facility Captures And Stores Five Million Tonnes Of CO2 Ahead Of Fifth Anniversary)
• Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL): The ACTL represents one of the most extensive CO₂ pipeline networks worldwide. Extending over 240 kilometers, this pipeline transports captured CO₂ from various industrial sources to oil fields for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and subsequent sequestration. The pipeline has a total capacity of 14.6 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, making it a significant piece of infrastructure that highlights Alberta’s ability to integrate CCUS at a provincial scale. While EOR has received mixed responses—some view it as a method that perpetuates fossil fuel extraction—the ACTL also facilitates long-term CO₂ storage, supporting Alberta’s emissions reduction goals while leveraging its natural resources. (🔗Read More: Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL))
• Proposed Alberta Carbon Grid: This proposed pipeline network, still under development, aims to expand Alberta’s CCUS infrastructure by connecting major emissions sources to storage sites across the province. Developed in collaboration with several private and public sector partners, the Alberta Carbon Grid is designed to link industrial emitters with a distributed network of sequestration sites, potentially creating a scalable solution for CO₂ transport and storage. If implemented, the Alberta Carbon Grid could provide an adaptable framework for handling emissions from a wide range of industries, supporting both regional and national climate goals. (🔗 Read More: The Alberta Carbon Grid)

Research and Development Centers

In addition to large-scale projects, Alberta is home to a range of R&D centers dedicated to advancing CCUS technology, including carbon capture, conversion, and sequestration techniques. These centers conduct groundbreaking research and field testing, enhancing Alberta’s role as a hub for CCUS innovation. 🔗 Read More: Canada’s Carbon Management Strategy

• Natural Resources Canada’s CanmetENERGY – Devon Laboratory: The CanmetENERGY facility in Devon, Alberta, focuses on advancing technologies for carbon capture, particularly in oil and gas applications. This facility conducts research on improving capture efficiency, reducing costs, and exploring new technologies that can address the unique challenges of CCUS in Alberta’s energy sector. The Devon Laboratory collaborates with other research centers and industries to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical applications in CCUS.
• Genesee Carbon Conversion Centre: Developed by Capital Power, this facility is currently in the planning and construction stages and aims to investigate carbon conversion technologies that could turn captured CO₂ into commercially valuable products. The Genesee Carbon Conversion Centre focuses on capturing emissions from Capital Power’s Genesee Generating Station and exploring potential end-uses for CO₂, such as in building materials or chemicals, to create economic value from carbon emissions.
• Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre (ACCTC): A joint venture between Capital Power, ENAMX, and InnoTech Alberta, the ACCTC serves as a testbed for new carbon conversion technologies. It provides facilities where start-ups and researchers can test and refine methods to transform captured CO₂ into useful products, supporting Alberta’s economic diversification goals while aligning with emissions reduction targets. By facilitating industry partnerships, the ACCTC aims to scale up promising CCUS technologies and support their commercialization, potentially lowering costs and creating new revenue streams associated with captured carbon.
• Carbon Management Canada (CaMI) Field Research Station: Located near Brooks, Alberta, the CaMI Field Research Station specializes in researching safe and effective CO₂ storage practices. The station conducts field experiments to monitor injected CO₂, analyze potential risks, and develop best practices for underground CO₂ storage. As a leader in carbon storage research, the CaMI station is essential to ensuring the long-term stability and safety of Alberta’s geological sequestration efforts. By contributing to a better understanding of storage methods, the CaMI Field Research Station enhances public trust and regulatory confidence in CCUS projects.

Challenges and Critiques

While Alberta’s CCUS initiatives showcase impressive technological advancements, they also face several challenges and critiques:

1. Economic Viability: Large-scale CCUS projects, such as Quest and ACTL, require substantial upfront investment and have high operational costs. While government subsidies and incentives have facilitated initial development, questions remain about the long-term economic viability of CCUS without sustained financial support.
2. Public Perception and Industry Ties: CCUS in Alberta is closely linked to the oil and gas sector, which has led some to view these initiatives as prolonging fossil fuel dependency. Projects that involve EOR (a technique used in the oil and gas industry to increase the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil field), in particular, are criticized for indirectly supporting continued oil extraction, although proponents argue that these projects provide an interim solution while transitioning to cleaner energy.
3. Infrastructure Gaps: Despite Alberta’s extensive pipeline networks, current infrastructure may be insufficient to meet the scale required for broad emissions reduction. Proposed projects like the Alberta Carbon Grid aim to address these gaps, but they require coordination, funding, and regulatory alignment to reach full implementation.