Frequently Asked Questions
WHO IS ICO2N?
1. What exactly is ICO2N’s role?
ICO2N members are companies from the petroleum, electricity, and industrial sectors. All are committed to providing climate change leadership and creating a framework for carbon capture and storage development in Canada. ICO2N focuses on analysis in economics, technology, policy, integration and implementation to ensure that CCS technology moves from concept to deployment. See About ICO2N for more information.
2. Is ICO2N building a pipeline?
No, ICO2N is focused on the development of an efficient, integrated CO2 capture and storage infrastructure system and policy framework. ICO2N researches how integration of the three key fundamentals of achieving CCS development in Canada – capture technology and costs, the configuration and timing of a connecting pipeline, and optimal end use in EOR or disposal in deep underground storage sites – can help deploy CCS in the most effective way possible.
3. How are the member companies involved in ICO2N? What are their roles?
The companies participating in ICO2N provide significant expertise and resources – both financial and manpower – to ICO2N’s work and the achievement of its objectives. ICO2N members sit on various committees and provide direction and knowledge for the initiatives that ICO2N undertakes.
WHAT IS CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE?
4. What is Carbon Capture and Storage?
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process whereby carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are captured from large industrial facilities before being emitted into the atmosphere, transported through pipelines and permanently stored in deep, secure underground formations. See What is CCS for more information.
5. Is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) a new technology?
CCS is not a new or untested idea. It is a proven, technically viable, environmentally safe means of reducing GHGs. The U.S. and, to a limited extent, Canada, have been injecting CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for almost a quarter of a century. Worldwide, carbon capture and storage projects have been operating successfully for years (see Global CCS Projects):
- Sleipner in Norway was the world’s first large scale commercial application of carbon dioxide storage in a deep saline aquifer and has been operating successfully since 1996. The project is expected to store a total of 20 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 over its lifetime.
- Weyburn in southeastern Saskatchewan has been in operation since 2000 and has successfully stored 15 Mt of CO2.
- In Salah in Algeria has successfully stored 3 Mt of CO2 since 2004, with a total target of 17 Mt of CO2 over the life of the project.
6. Is there sufficient storage capacity for CO2 emissions underground?
CO2 storage can occur in a variety of geological settings. There are various estimates of total worldwide storage capacity in underground formations depending on the qualifications used for determining a suitable reservoir; for example, the Bellona Institute estimates worldwide 236 billion tonnes of CO2 could be captured and stored. Canada has some of the world’s most promising storage sites; the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin alone has the potential to store up to 3762 Mt of CO2, significantly more than is expected to be produced.
7. How long can we store GHG emissions underground?
Safety of CO2 storage can actually increase over time due to additional trapping mechanisms that are activated over time (see CO2 Storage for more information). The Petroleum Technology Research Centre conducted a risk assessment process in 2004 to evaluate the long-term fate of CO2 injected into the Weyburn reservoir. For the case study, 4000 parameter combinations were evaluated and the results indicated that after 5000 years, there is a 95% probability that 98.7% to 99.5% of the initial CO2-in-place would remain stored in the geosphere.
8. Does enhanced oil recovery actually store CO2?
Yes, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a process whereby carbon dioxide is injected into a reservoir stimulating additional extraction of oil. Most of the CO2 that is injected is stored in the reservoir with some of the CO2 coming out of the reservoir with the produced oil and associated gas. This CO2 is normally separated from the oil and gas, recompressed, and reinjected; this is referred to as recycled CO2. Monitoring ensures that the process accounts for all CO2 that is injected. See Enhanced Oil Recovery for more information.
WHY DO WE NEED CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE?
9. What real difference will Carbon Capture and Storage make to the environment?
CCS is a globally recognized approach to addressing climate change, along with renewable energy, energy efficiency, fuel switching and other options. While society transitions to a less carbon-intensive energy system, we must take action to reduce CO2 emissions from conventional sources of energy. CCS holds tremendous potential and is one of the most promising means of doing this by making a very real and significant difference in reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
10. Can Carbon Capture and Storage eliminate all CO2 emissions?
No, CCS is not the complete answer for emissions reduction. It is one tool in a suite of options that will be needed for material reductions. Initiatives such as renewable energy sources and energy efficiency need to continue to be explored and developed. Carbon Capture and Storage is ideally suited for large emitters such as fossil-fuelled power plants, oil and gas facilities and cement, chemical and other industrial plants. It is not an effective solution for small-scale emission sources such as transportation and residential energy use.
11. Does Carbon Capture and Storage work for every industrial sector?
CCS is a strategy that works for a variety of industrial emitters in different ways. Increasing the use of CCS in a given industrial sector is less a question of technical suitability and more a question of economics. CCS will be most cost-effective on large facilities with concentrated CO2 emissions. These are more prevalent in coal-fired power generation than in oil sands and chemicals/refining, so it is generally seen as a more attractive approach for the electricity sector. See Industry’s Potential for more information.
12. Does Carbon Capture and Storage work in the oil sands?
CCS has application in some operational areas of the oil sands. Carbon capture technology can be applied to in situ production, heavy oil upgrading and refining but is not applicable to oil sands mining. It is important to note again that project economics, not technical ability, is a very important determining factor for deployment of CCS in the oil sands. See Oil Sands for more information.
13. How soon could Carbon Capture and Storage become a reality?
CCS is one of the key tools for Canada to significantly reduce its GHG emissions in the near term. Fiscal mechanisms and policies can be used to offset the risks and high front-end costs of CCS and encourage early adoption. With the proper framework in place and immediate action, CO2 volumes in Canada can begin to flow into storage by 2015 with a significant ramp up by 2020.
IS CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE SAFE?
14. Is Carbon Capture and Storage Safe?
Yes. CO2 capture and storage is not a new or untested idea. CCS is a proven, technically viable, environmentally safe means of reducing greenhouse gases. Subsurface rock has, for millions of years, acted as an effective trap for CO2 and other natural gases, while large scale demonstration projects provide strong evidence that industrial volumes of CO2 can be stored successfully. New CCS projects are required to do extensive work in selecting appropriate storage sites, and subsequent measuring, monitoring and verification will ensure that CO¬2 remains safely stored. See Safety for more information.
15. What if the stored CO2 leaks to the surface?
Since CO2 is held in place by the very same “cap rock” that has held oil and gas under the earth through millions of years and countless earthquakes, sequestered CO2 is not in danger of release due to seismic activity. In addition, there are naturally occurring CO2 reservoirs around the world which have held CO2 for millions of years. CCS facilities include equipment to monitor the facilities built to pump CO2 underground and enable the operators to quickly address any CO2 leaks from around the well or storage facilities.
16. Is CO2 dangerous?
Carbon dioxide is neither toxic nor inherently dangerous. Carbon dioxide is a natural part of our environment. CO2 is the gas we exhale when we breathe, the source of the bubbles in our carbonated beverage of choice, and the gas that trees synthesize into oxygen. Carbon dioxide is a natural part of the life cycle and our atmosphere. It is the overabundance of atmospheric CO2 that is believed to be contributing to global climate change. In high concentrations, CO2 ¬can be dangerous because it displaces oxygen, and this is why CCS projects employ stringent methods to monitor their subsurface storage and ensure that the CO¬2 underground remains stored safely.
IS CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE ECONOMIC?
17. How much will Carbon Capture and Storage cost? Isn’t it uneconomic overall?
Large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage projects are currently uneconomic in the absence of a framework that mandates reduction of carbon emissions. But with the right fiscal and regulatory frameworks in place, CCS is expected to become economic. Also, it is important to remember that this is not just a question of cost, but also of benefits. Climate change is an international issue and the reductions that can be obtained through CCS are important to addressing the problem. The International Energy Agency suggests that without CCS, overall costs to halve CO2 emissions levels by 2050 will increase by 70%. See Transition Period for more information.
18. Will there be any economic benefits associated with CCS?
CCS is a prudent risk management investment to set the stage for the continued extraction, use and sale of hydrocarbon resources and to ensure the continued growth of economies. There are also some direct economic benefits, namely through the creation of a market in which companies can purchase CO2 for enhanced oil recovery activities. CO2 will help increase the production of oil from conventional oilfields and add value to the companies that undertake these operations. Tax revenues, job creation and new technology development are additional benefits that will repay initial government investments to help get CCS started.
19. There are many alternatives to Carbon Capture and Storage. Why is CCS getting all the attention?
A suite of technologies will be needed to address climate change and although CCS is not without its challenges, industry is working with science and technology experts to make it a viable solution for Canada. Investments in other technologies are being made by both industry and government and we need to continue working towards a shift to “clean” energies, but in the meantime, CCS provides a significant opportunity to lower our CO2 emissions while simultaneously working on other alternatives. A study by the Delphi Group last year looked at the potential supply, timing and cost of GHG reductions in Canada from a variety of alternatives, and concluded that CCS has the most significant potential for annual reductions, closely followed by nuclear, wind power and vehicle fuel efficiency improvements. And while CCS will be expensive in the early stages of development, its costs are comparable to other GHG reduction options such as wind and solar. See Price Comparison to Alternatives for more information.
20. Why don’t we use this money for renewables instead?
Renewables and CCS are both a part of a sustainable energy future. We will need to support many tools in order to reduce overall emissions. Renewable energy is part of building a cleaner energy future, but it will not replace fossil fuel used by industries and consumers overnight. We can mitigate the impact of higher carbon energy sources through CCS as a transition while other technologies are being developed and become more mainstream. But no credible analysis suggests than any one technology can do the job: all will be needed to achieve Canada’s targets for CO2 reductions.
21. Why should government invest in this development?
Reducing GHG emissions is a global, national, and local objective. While important as a transitional technology, CCS has significant commercial challenges and does require government support for early demonstration projects to accelerate its development and use.
22. Why shouldn’t industry just pay? Aren’t they the ones responsible for all of the CO2 emissions?
All Canadians contribute to GHG emissions, and all Canadians have a role to play in the solution. A full “cradle to grave” assessment of CO2 emissions shows that 77% of emissions from the use of petroleum occur at the point of end use – consumers driving their vehicles, heating their homes, and buying goods which have been transported large distances. So while upstream energy companies do need to address CO2 emissions reductions, all Canadians and all regions also need to participate Industry is committed to making significant investments in CCS, but some form of financial risk-sharing is needed to overcome the initial technical and cost uncertainties. Ultimately, significant additional revenues, taxes and jobs will be generated from CCS projects and related EOR development. And Carbon Capture and Storage will enable Canada to realize its largest single greenhouse gas reduction opportunity and help meet the global climate change challenge head on.