Pathways Alliance files application for carbon capture megaproject as critics question its emissions end game
A consortium of Canada’s largest oilsands producers has began filing regulatory applications for a new carbon capture megaproject.
The Pathways Alliance, which is comprised of six energy companies, confirmed the filing with CTV News Friday afternoon.
The $16.5 billion project proposal is for construction of a 400-kilometre pipeline that would transport carbon dioxide emissions from oilsands production facilities in northern Alberta to an underground storage hub near Cold Lake.
Pathways claims the line would achieve net reductions from its operations of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.
The paperwork for the pipeline project will go through the Alberta Energy Regulator and could take up to a year to complete. Pathways has previously said it wants to have shovels in the ground soon after.
CLIMATE SKEPTICISM
While Pathways is adamant the technology is the best way forward to meet emissions goals, some climate experts are less than optimistic.
University of Calgary Earth, Energy and Environment professor Sara Hastings-Simon argues the system does little to actually curb our climate problem’s root cause.
“There will continue to be demand for oil and gas for some time,” she said, “but this question of ‘can we simply produce as much as we have been all the way through to 2030 and 2050, and just capture the upstream carbon emissions,’ that’s not compatible with a world that’s taking action to avoid worsening impacts from climate change.”
The oilsands industry currently accounts for about 12 per cent of Canada’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is just a way for the oil and gas industry to continue to increase production,” Tim Gray with Environmental Defence said. “We should be taking this money and investing in the actual transition, which would protect Albertans from the future shock to the energy system that’s on the way.”
TOO AMBITIOUS
That transition has had some holdouts.
Many in the energy industry have long insisted federal 2030 climate targets are too ambitious.
Pathways says it has its sights set on 2050.
“I still have a lot of questions around the pushback that we’re seeing on that oil and gas emissions cap, in light of the continued claims from Pathways and others that their intention is to proceed down this path,” Hastings-Simon said. “If companies are really serious and want to show a commitment, the best way they can do that is supporting the regulations that would tie them to those emission reductions.”
The Pathways Alliance denied a CTV News interview request Friday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.