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Shell gets $865-million for carbon capture project Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, says that while some hurdles remain, carbon caputure and storage technology is "technologically proven" Aaron Lynett for National Post CALGARY -- With less than a week to go before ministers from around the globe gather for an international summit on carbon capture and storage, the Alberta and federal governments Thursday unveiled a letter of intent to direct $865-million toward Canada's first large-scale CCS project. But it will be years before Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Canadian division, which is leading a consortium of companies on the project, makes its final investment decision on its CCS ambitions. The governments will spend the cash on Shell's $1.35-billion Quest project at its Scotford upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. The money will be doled out over 15 years as Shell and its partners hit certain milestones. "We have to start somewhere. We start today," Lisa Raitt, the federal Minister of Natural Resources, said in a press conference in Edmonton. "There are some hurdles to CCS, but the good news is the technology has already been technically proven." Alberta's oil patch, particularly the province's oil sands, is constantly flogged as a carbon dioxide-spewing blight that is a significant contributor to the world's climate change woes. CCS, however, is widely heralded as a potential factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas production as industry traps CO2 beneath the Earth's surface in saline aquifers. "I will be bringing our Canadian achievements to the world stage at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in London," Ms. Raitt said, noting Mel Knight, Alberta's Energy Minister, will be there as well. Graham Bojé, Shell's vice-president of health safety and sustainable development, while commending Edmonton and Ottawa for their financial support, noted the Quest project does not yet have the green light. "I do want to stress the Quest project has a long way to go before it becomes a fully operational CCS project," he said. "We're still in the project development phase and the final investment decision still depends on a range of factors." Shell still has to do more engineering homework, undergo public consultation, and get a string of regulatory approvals. It will take a "couple of years" before Shell is ready to make its final call, he said. Alberta signed a letter of intent committing $745-million over the next 15 years, drawing on its $2-billion fund set aside to deal with the environment. Ottawa signed up for $120-million, with the cash coming from its Clean Energy Fund. Ottawa has $650-million set aside for CCS projects, Ms. Raitt said. CCS is not without skeptics. "The marriage of a brave new technology with a political fix for an immediate climate problem could have negative long-term consequences for Canadian taxpayers and water drinkers without stabilizing the climate," wrote Graham Thomson, a columnist from the Edmonton Journal who wrote a report released by the Munk Centre for International Studies last month. |