New Alberta CO2 Pipeline: A step in the right direction

I was pleased to learn that Prime Minister Harper has signed on with Premier Stelmach’s proposed CO2 pipeline. This pipeline is a step in the right direction in reducing the Oil Sands industry’s Greenhouse Gas emissions; however, the more significant portion of the costs will lie in the Capture and Compression of this initiative. In addition, Oil Wells receiving this CO2 will likely need to be retrofitted and modernized.

More importantly, we need to ensure that in spite of high growth of the Oil Sands, total Greenhouse Gas emissions are reduced from this industry. Although Carbon Capture & Storage will significantly contribute to this objective we also need to focus on improving energy efficiency of Oil Sands extraction and upgrading.

This comes at a time when both Federal and Provincial governments are reviewing incentive programs for Oil Sands development, namely the Oil Sands Royalty Regime and the Accelerated Capital Costs Allowance programs. Providing incentives to the Oil Sands to have it reduce its total Greenhouse Gas emissions will prove to be costly given the current rate of growth this industry is experiencing. I believe that the above programs can be reformed in order to help the industry reduce its Greenhouse Gas emissions. I have elaborated on how these programs could be reformed in my initial posting below.