The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Stephen Owen, Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification) (Indian Affairs and Northern Development), the Honourable Eric Cline, Saskatchewan Minister of Industry and Resources, and Dr. David Barnard, President of the University of Regina, officially opened the International Test Centre for Carbon Dioxide Capture located on campus.
Minister Goodale also announced that the Government of Canada will invest $5 million in the Weyburn CO2 Monitoring Project. Minister Goodale made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, and the Honourable David Anderson, Minister of Environment Canada.
“These projects are an important step forward in demonstrating the potential that CO2 capture and storage technologies have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels,” said Minister Goodale. “Developing leading-edge technologies is key to our Made-in-Canada approach to addressing climate change — and these projects are examples of how made-in-Canada can also mean made-in-Saskatchewan.”
“Saskatchewan has two of the world’s most significant climate change initiatives,” Minister Cline said. “This province is proud to provide millions of dollars of incentives and funding to support the efforts of our researchers at both the International Test Centre and at the Weyburn CO2 Monitoring Project.”
“The University of Regina has identified Energy and the Environment as one of our five areas of strategic emphasis,” said Dr. Barnard. “The dynamic and innovative work by our researchers at the International Test Centre will benefit the people and province of Saskatchewan as well as Canada and North America, as we address the international problem of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Researchers at the International Test Centre will bring together findings from around the world to develop economically viable technologies in Canada for capturing CO2 emissions. They will conduct technology development-scale tests at the ITC pilot plant at the University site and industry-scale tests at a demonstration plant at SaskPower’s coal-fired Boundary Dam Power Station. The Boundary Dam plant is an effective test site because it is influenced by environmental factors that cannot be duplicated in a lab, such as weather, load on the power system and coal quality. Today’s event marks the official opening of the ITC.
The IEA Weyburn Project is a large, multifaceted research project that includes 19 research organizations from Canada, the United States and Europe, as well as seven industry members. The Weyburn oil field in Saskatchewan uses an innovative technology called CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery that will extend the life of the field. It will not only lead to economic benefits, but it is also environmentally innovative, because most of that CO2 will remain stored underground for the long term. Over the life of the project, 14 million tonnes of CO2 will be stored — the equivalent of the annual emissions from 3.2 million vehicles.
The project is managed and coordinated by the Petroleum Technology Research Centre at the Regina Research Park on the University of Regina campus. The Government of Canada is contributing $5 million from the CO2 Capture and Storage Initiative announced under Action Plan 2000 on Climate Change, in addition to the $1 million already provided for pre-injection work through the Climate Change Action Fund.
“The International Test Centre will play a leading role in national and international greenhouse gas research and will be a storehouse of expertise in this field,” said Minister Goodale “Through Western Diversification, the Government of Canada, along with the provincial government, has invested in developing innovative greenhouse gas-reducing technologies because they are practical as key ways of reaching our Kyoto goal.”
Together, these two activities will keep Canada on the forefront of leading-edge research on CO2 capture and storage technologies and examine their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Neither project would have been possible without strong private support from Canadian and international companies.
These initiatives build on the Government of Canada’s commitment to ensuring quality of life in communities, a healthy environment and continued economic prosperity. Funding for the initiative was provided for in the February 2003 federal budget.
For more information, please contact:
Alexandra Muir
Natural Resources Canada
(613) 947-8246
Janet Peters
Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
(306) 787-8277
Angela Street
University of Regina
(306) 790-1808
BACKGROUNDER
The International Test Centre For Carbon Dioxide Capture
The International Test Centre for Carbon
Dioxide Capture (ITC) develops technologies for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The ITC focuses on the development
of effective CO2 capture techniques and finding new industrial uses for CO2 gas. This work will pave the way for new
capture and storage methods. The ITC helps nations respond to their international environmental commitments on climate
change, while pioneering the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions over the long term.
The Centre builds upon the existing, internationally recognized expertise at the University of Regina. The ITC consists of two components: a pre-commercial scale Technology Demonstration Plant attached to a coal-fired electrical generating station at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan, and a Technology Development Plant at the University. This combination makes the ITC unique in the world as it offers services from the laboratory to commercial demonstration scales.
Research projects at the ITC:
High-capacity column packings;
High-efficiency separator units;
Cogeneration and optimization for CO2 capture;
Corrosion control and solvent degradation studies;
Determination of CO2 absorption capacity;
Studies of CO2 absorption kinetics in various solvents;
Formulation of new gas-treating solvents;
Low-temperature separation;
Membrane separation; and
Process-control strategies using artificial intelligence.
Sponsors for ITC:
Alberta Energy Research Institute
EnCana
Epcor
Fluor
International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme
Luscar
Natural Resources Canada
Nexen Canada Inc.
Saskatchewan Power Corporation
Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
TransAlta Utilities Corporation
United States Department of Energy/NETL
University of Regina
University of Waterloo
Western Economic Diversification Canada
International Energy Agency (IEA) WEYBURN CO2 MONITORING PROJECT
Storing carbon dioxide underground is a key option for helping Canada and the world meet the climate change challenge to reduce greenhouse gases. The Weyburn oil field in Saskatchewan uses an innovative technology called CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery that will extend the life of the field. That means more jobs and economic benefits for the people of Weyburn and for Saskatchewan.
Over the 25-year life of the project, 14 million tonnes of CO2 will be stored — the equivalent of the annual emissions from 3.2 million vehicles.
The Weyburn field is an excellent candidate reservoir for evaluating CO2 storage. Detailed geological records and samples and almost 50 years of production history are available for the field.
The monitoring project is being coordinated by the Petroleum Technology Research Centre at the Regina Research Park on the University of Regina campus. Saskatchewan researchers include those from the University of Regina; the University of Saskatchewan; the Saskatchewan Research Council; J.D. Mollard and Associates, a Regina-based consulting firm; and geologists from Saskatchewan Industry and Resources. This project is being conducted under the auspices of the International Energy Agency’s Greenhouse Gas R&D Program. Funding and support for the monitoring program are provided by the province’s Saskatchewan Petroleum Research Incentive program, the Government of Canada, EnCana, British Petroleum, Dakota Gasification, Totalfinaelf, Nexen, TransAlta and SaskPower, together with Japanese, U.S. and European interests. This research project brings together 19 research groups from Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Sponsors for Weyburn:
Alberta Energy and Utilities Board
Alberta Energy Research Institute
Alberta Environment
BP Americas
Chevron Texaco
Dakota Gasification Company
EnCana Resources
Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENAA)
Government of Alberta
Natural Resources Canada
Nexen Canada Ltd.
SaskPower
Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
TotalfinaElf
Transalta Utilities
United States Department of Energy/NETL
Contacts:
International Test Centre for CO2 Capture (ITC)
Faculty of Engineering
University of Regina
Tel.: (306) 585-4160
Fax: (306) 585-4556
Dr. Malcolm Wilson
Dr. Paitoon (PT) Tontiwachwuthikul
Dr. Raphael Idem
Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
Janet Peters
(306) 787-8277
Weyburn CO2 Monitoring Project
Roland Moberg
Petroleum Technology Research Centre
(306) 787-8290
Bruce Stewart
Natural Resources Canada
(780) 987-8614