NRCAN: Canada Invests in Carbon Capture, Storage in Nova Scotia

May 27, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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Canada will provide $5 million to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) research in the province of Nova Scotia, according to Gary Lunn, Canada's minister of natural resources.

"Canada's fossil fuel resources are one of our country's biggest economic drivers, but we must find cleaner ways to produce and use these resources," said Lunn.

"With our world-leading carbon capture and storage [CCS] technology that supports our balanced approach to fight climate change, we can achieve our goals in a way that is good for the environment and the economy."

According to the Canada-Alberta ecoENERGY CCS Task Force, CCS technology would allow Canada to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 600 million metric tons a year by 2050 - an amount equal to almost three-quarters of Canada's current annual emissions.

The potential for underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Western Canada is already well-known.

Experts said the government's new funding will be used to assess whether similar CCS opportunities can be developed in Nova Scotia, where coal-fired generating stations supply three-quarters of the province's electricity.

"We need to know if carbon capture and storage [CCS] represents a practical tool to protect the environment," said Richard Hurlburt, Nova Scotia's minister of energy. "Nova Scotia has some of the best researchers in the country, and now they have funding to find out."

Canada's contribution to the research was included in its 2008 budget and will be delivered once legislation has been passed. The 2008 budget committed $250 million in funding for CCS research.

In addition to the $5 million in funding for the Nova Scotia project, officials announced $240 million for the Boundary Dam Project in Saskatchewan and $5 million in funding for the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy at the University of Calgary.

Source: Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).