With the world focusing much of its attention on the consequences of global warming today, it’s no wonder that Saskatchewan made global headlines on October 2nd, when they refurbished an old coal-fired power plant into technology capable of capturing one million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The day was said to mark a “historic milestone on the path to a low-carbon future” proving that “the technology is no longer science fiction”, according to Maria van der Hoeven at the International Energy Agency.
The project, put up by the Saskatchewan facility, is estimated to cost $1.4 billion Canadian dollars. The funds come from the federal government ($240 million), the provincial authorities, as well as tax payers. The project is not likely to see a financial return.
It is no surprise that such a large investment needs to find ways to financially sustain itself. The plant’s publicly owned operator SaskPower hopes to sell its byproducts, including sulphur-dioxide emissions and fly ash. Because of the price tag, it is not likely that the technology will spread to other parts of Canada.
On a controversial note, the project plans to sell its captured carbon dioxide to Cenovus Energy, a massive corporation planning on dumping the gas into oil wells 66 kilometers away in order to increase their output harvest. In this sense, while others see the plant as an effort to cut green house gasses, other lobbyist groups debate that “it doesn’t get us off of fossil fuels.”
The carbon capture facility, in my view, is a pioneer that paves a pathway for others to follow. I believe that with time, they will figure out ways to make this project more economically friendly, finding substitutes for material and by making improvements to equipment. The notion of “green energy” is a newly popular opinion that will resonate will the general population with time. When Saskatchewan finds alternatives to making the project more cost-effective, people will hopefully be more drawn to the idea of helping the world capture the carbon emissions coming from 2,300 coal factories worldwide.
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