The Pathways Alliance project aims to reduce emissions from Alberta's oil sands by capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground. This explainer breaks down the technical requirements, including the necessary pipeline infrastructure and storage hubs, required to make the system functional. Understanding the scale of this carbon storage initiative is critical for evaluating Canada's industrial decarbonization strategy and the practical challenges of transporting CO2 at a massive scale.
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The technical side of the storage is one thing, but the pipeline buildout is where these projects usually hit a wall. I wonder what the actual projected capacity factor is for the capture plants if the pipeline faces further delays.
It depends on the tax credits. If the incentives are tied to actual sequestration rather than just capture, the pressure to finish the pipeline becomes a financial emergency for the operators.
Basically a breakdown of the Pathways project. It shows that without the pipeline, the capture tech is just a fancy way to move CO2 from one place to another without actually storing it.
The cost per ton for this scale of CCS is always the big question. I would like to see the maintenance costs for the pipeline over a twenty year period, not just the initial build cost.
