Report highlights strengths in carbon capture, conversion, utilization and storage tech development
Canada has the expertise, infrastructure and drive to play a leading role in the growing carbon capture, conversion and storage sector says a new report by CMC Research Institutes (CMCRI) and Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR).
The report details the challenges and opportunities behind the development of carbon capture, conversion, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies – which are considered key in reducing levels of atmospheric CO2. It concludes that Canada has the necessary elements to position it as a leading source of all these technologies but that converting carbon into commercial products could be especially lucrative.
“The global market for technologies that transform carbon into value-add products is an estimated $800 billion. We found that Canada is well-positioned to take advantage of those markets,” says Sandra Odendahl, president and CEO of CMCRI. “It will take a focused effort to build a robust carbon conversion sector in Canada, but our report demonstrates that we’ve already got the ball rolling.”
Canada advancing development of conversion technologies
Canadian companies have commercialized or are working on technologies that store carbon in concrete, that use carbon to create minerals that can be used in products such as soap or fertilizer, and that grow algae for use as biofuels or in plastics.
The report details how Canada is already a global leader in carbon capture and storage with successful full-scale operations that include SaskPower’s Boundary Dam project and Alberta’s Shell QUEST facility. Later this year, the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line will begin transporting CO2 from industrial facilities north of Edmonton for use in enhanced oil recovery operations south of Edmonton. CMC Research Institutes also operates a world-leading facility where industry and academic researchers are testing and developing monitoring technologies for carbon capture and storage sites.