LONDON, UK — The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role in advancing clean energy technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources, attended the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) in London and announced that Canada will contribute $250,000 to help fund capacity building for CCS in developing countries.
“Carbon capture and storage offers tremendous promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions not only in Canada but around the world, helping us to balance our need for energy with our need to protect the environment,” said Minister Raitt. “Canada is a world leader in developing this technology, and we want to continue building this knowledge base and sharing this expertise with our global partners.”
Ministers at the forum discussed options to accelerate CCS demonstration projects around the world, the barriers to investment in the technology, and methods to increase capacity building, knowledge sharing and public awareness.
The Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan has committed $1 billion for clean energy research and demonstration projects, including $650 million for large-scale CCS projects. Last week, Minister Raitt announced an investment of $120 million from this fund for the Shell Quest project in Alberta. This project will integrate CCS technology at Shell Canada’s Scotford oil sands upgrader and could capture up to 1.1 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Earlier this year, the G8 leaders reaffirmed the importance of the commitment to launch 20 large-scale demonstration projects globally by 2010. As the host nation for the G8 in 2010, Canada is committed to advancing global initiatives on CCS and expects that a number of large-scale CCS demonstration projects will be built in Canada in the near future.
Minister Raitt also congratulated the Alberta Research Council, which received a prestigious award at the CSLF in recognition of its contribution to advancing CCS.
Minister Raitt will now travel to Paris for the Meeting of Ministers of the International Energy Agency, to focus on clean energy technologies and global energy security.
Clean energy technologies such as CCS are an integral part of the Government of Canada’s aggressive plan to achieve an absolute reduction of 20 percent in Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2020. According to the Canada–Alberta ecoENERGY CCS Task Force report, CCS technology could allow Canada to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 600 million tonnes a year by 2050 — an amount equal to almost three-quarters of Canada’s current annual emissions.
The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role in advancing clean energy technologies such as carbon capture and storage. Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt announced at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum in London, England, that Canada will contribute $250,000 to help fund capacity building for CCS in developing countries.
Media may contact:
Jocelyne Turner
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Lisa Raitt
Ottawa
613-996-2007
Or
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
613-992-4447
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