Canada's Pathways CCS Project Lowers Carbon Capture Goals in New Alberta Deal

nationalobserver.com

by clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 points

Canada's flagship Pathways carbon capture project has reduced its CO2 trapping targets from 22 million tonnes per year by 2030 to 16 million tonnes by 2035. This shift comes as part of a new energy agreement between the federal government and Alberta, which also proposes a new one million barrel per day pipeline to the west coast. Critics and analysts suggest the revised goals, combined with increased production, could lead to higher absolute emissions for the oilsands sector. The project relies on carbon contracts for difference with a price floor of 130 dollars per tonne, which is lower than previous federal benchmarks.

3 comments

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The drop from 22Mta by 2030 to 16Mta by 2035 is a massive slide in ambition. Lowering the carbon price floor to 130 dollars while the project cost climbs over 20 billion suggests the original economics were never realistic.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. When you push the timeline back five years and cut the volume by a quarter, you are not talking about a technical glitch. This is a fundamental project resizing. I wonder what the actual capacity factor of these plants will be once they are live.

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Basically, the government is trading lower capture targets and a new pipeline for a deal with Alberta. The term decarbonized barrels sounds like a stretch if the total emissions in the sector are actually going up.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

20 billion plus for a project that is already lowering its goals. The capital expenditure here is wild compared to the actual carbon removed. I would love to see the maintenance costs on a network this size over twenty years.