In Alberta, Canada, Shell is one of a number of companies mining the oil sands. This significant resource can play an important part in helping to meet rising energy demand in the coming decades. But separating the oil from sand and clay, then processing it, takes energy and produces CO2 emissions.
A proposed project called Quest would capture more than 1 million tonnes of CO2 each year from the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, Shell’s joint venture. That is the same as taking 175,000 North American cars off the road.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an important, available technology that can mitigate greenhouse emissions from power stations, cement factories, refineries and chemical plants, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It could account for nearly 19% of the total CO2 reductions needed by 2050 to combat climate change, and for more than 50% by 2100.
If it goes ahead as planned, Quest will be among the first commercial-scale CCS projects and the first in the oil sands industry. Shell technology will capture CO2 from the Scotford Upgrader, which turns heavy oil into crude for refining into fuel and other products.
Hydrogen is produced at the plant for use in the upgrading process, with CO2 a by-product. The CO2 will flow into tanks and be absorbed in a chemical solution. Heating the solution will release the CO2, before it is compressed into a fluid for piping around 80 kilometres north to wells. Here it will be pumped into porous rock more than 2 kilometres underground for permanent storage.
“Early projects like Quest can be critical to help establish best practices and bring down costs,” explains Sarah Forbes, a CCS expert at the World Resources Institute, a global environmental think tank.
Indeed, cost remains a hurdle to widespread use of CCS. The IEA’s roadmap to 2050 calls for an investment of $6 trillion for 3,000 CCS projects worldwide. Yet companies hesitate to invest in CCS projects because they add costs, with no means to recuperate them.
In the absence of incentives, such as a carbon price, government support is needed for CCS development. Fortunately, some see the value: Shell and its partners have secured $865 million from the governments of Alberta and Canada.
Before Shell and partners make the final decision to begin construction, Quest must receive regulatory approval. This depends in part on local support, and Shell has worked to reassure nearby communities.
“Scientists have proved the site’s suitability for safe, permanent CO2 storage,” says Rich Chalaturnyk, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Alberta. “An advanced monitoring and control system will help ensure that no CO2 escapes.”
Quest is one of a number of CCS projects in which Shell is playing a role. In Australia, for example, Shell is a partner in the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project, which will include the world’s largest CCS operation when complete around 2015.
