Carbon capture and storage – What is it?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a greenhouse gas that can be separated from the exhaust of industrial facilities such as coal-fired electricity plants, compressed and injected back underground to be permanently stored in the very geological formations where it was held for millions of years. It's called carbon capture and storage (CCS)

The Canada-Alberta Task Force on CCS has determined that by 2050, CCS has the potential to eliminate 600 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, or roughly 40 per cent of Canada’s projected emissions. That’s equivalent to removing more than all of Canada’s current industrial emissions - without losing critical economic services and value.

Once proven, CCS has the potential to eliminate 45 megatonnes of CO₂ annually – almost a third of the province’s 2050 target - if applied to all Alberta-based coal-fired electricity plants.

We have already begun the initial engineering and design work for this project. However, TransAlta and its industry partners require financial support from the Government of Alberta to build this facility.

With the right leadership and commitment, construction could begin in 2010 and the facility could be operational in 2012.

The potential of CCS

What makes the case for CCS so powerful is that it can be retrofitted on existing coal-fired power plants and other fossil energy infrastructure. In 20 years, most of Canada’s industrial emissions will still come from facilities in operation today.

By retrofitting coal fleets across the country, CCS has the potential to make coal a carbon-neutral fuel. And, if heavy oil upgrading facilities were built with CCS capability, we could capture and store up to 90 per cent of the CO₂ these facilities emit.