The Canadian Government published its Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Technology Roadmap
in March 2006. The document, which was developed in close consultation with industry, seeks to establish a robust architecture for addressing the technical risks and economic costs (with scientific understanding of geological, geotechnical, reservoir management and engineering aspects) of capture and storage. The document is a sister document to the Clean Coal Technology Roadmap which was published by Natural Resources Canada in 2005.
The Canadian CO2 Capture and Storage Technology Network (CCCSTN) has been established to coordinate activities undertaken by various groups and/or entities working on research, development and demonstration of national CCS initiatives.
The Canadian Clean Power Coalition (CCPC) is an association of leading Canadian coal and coal-fired electricity producers which plans to build a full-scale, coal-fired demonstration plant in the next decade. The demonstration plant, expected to be in operation by 2012 to 2015, will be designed to remove greenhouse gas and all other emissions of concern and is expected to cost well over CAN$1 billion dollars.
The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) is a non-profit petroleum research and development corporation located in Regina, Saskatchewan. The purpose of the PTRC is to act as a conduit for federal, provincial, and industry funding for industry-oriented petroleum research. The PTRC is involved in the management of the Weyburn project.
The IEA Weyburn CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project began in 2000 to monitor the progress - from its inception - of a 25-year, $1.1 billion (Canadian) commercial CO2 injection venture led by EnCana Corporation in the Weyburn oil field in southeast Saskatchewan.
The CO2 comes from the Dakota Gasification Company, located roughly 325 km to the south in the United States. The facility gasifies coal to make methane with a relatively pure stream of CO2 as a by-product which is then dehydrated, compressed, and piped to Canada where it is injected to assist the extraction of oil at Weyburn.
The primary objective of the project is to investigate geological storage of CO2 when used for enhanced oil recovery and is focused on understanding mechanisms of CO2 distribution and containment within the reservoir and the likelihood of permanent sequestration within the reservoir.The project is designed to use CO2 for 15 years and to keep it securely stored thereafter. To date, there has been no indication of CO2 leakage to the surface or near-surface environment.
Phase I of the project ended in June 2004.The project has moved into Phase II (2005 – 2009) where researchers are compiling a best practices manual to serve as a world-class industrial reference in the design and implementation of CO2 sequestration in conjunction with EOR projects.