Alberta Oil Sector So Confident In "Carbon Capture" That They're Demanding Taxpayers Take On All Risks, 50% Of Costs

[hatrack]

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been hyped by industry groups like the Pathways Alliance as a credible solution to help decarbonize the Alberta oil industry, despite several studies questioning both the effectiveness and the economics of storing carbon dioxide underground. But there may be a simpler way to assess whether this is a real effort or just PR smoke and mirrors. Are oil companies willing to play with their own money on CSS? Are they transparent with documentation and process? And are they willing to assume their own risks?

The answer to all these questions seems a resounding “no.” Freedom of information documents unearthed by The Narwhal reveal that Pathways Alliance demanded the federal government pony up 50 percent of the operating costs of their proposed CCS project at Cold Lake Alberta, estimated to cost over $16 billion. This same trove of lobbying documents also shows that Pathways insisted on assurances that the project would not be subject to a federal environmental assessment. At the provincial level, it is being broken into 126 separate parts to avoid triggering an Alberta environmental assessment.

Pathways spent millions hyping their vague plan on social media, but has yet to provide local communities, First Nations, or provincial regulators with specific technical documents. The industry group also suddenly scrubbed their website after being spooked by pending regulatory requirements in Bill C-59 that requires truthfulness in their environmental claims to avoid “greenwashing.” And what about risk? Who would assume the long-term liabilities associated with injecting up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year into an underground area three times the size of Prince Edward Island?

Under a system unique to Alberta and described as having some of “the most generous transfer provisions” of any CCS regulatory scheme, the provincial government would assume virtually all long-term legal risks. Unlike oil production liabilities that remain legally attached to the companies that created them, CCS operators like those in the Pathways Alliance would have their regulatory and tort liabilities transferred to the Alberta government in perpetuity after the Minister of Energy issues a closure certificate.

EDIT

https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/17/pathways-alliance-oil-companies-insist-carbon-capture-is-safe-so-why-are-albertans-saddled-with-the-risks/

[applegrove]

1. Just like Government will have to pay to cap all the

abandoned, orphaned wells, the government will pay heavily for this.

[hatrack]

2. True, true - but hey, at least it won't work!!