Enbridge and Lehigh Cement agree to advance a CO2 storage solution in Alberta
Lehigh is developing North America’s first full-scale carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) solution for the cement industry at its Edmonton plant, with the goal of capturing approximately 780,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. Captured emissions would be transported via pipeline and permanently sequestered by Enbridge. Subject to the award of carbon sequestration rights and regulatory approvals, the project could be in service as early as 2025.
With the support of Lehigh and Capital Power Corporation (Capital Power) with their local facilities, Enbridge will be applying to develop an open-access carbon hub in the Wabamun area, west of Edmonton, Alberta, through the Government of Alberta’s Request for Full Project Proposals process.
Combined, the emissions from Capital Power and Lehigh’s planned carbon capture projects represent an opportunity to avoid nearly 4 million tonnes of atmospheric CO2 emissions. Once built, the Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub will be among the largest integrated CCUS projects in the world.
“At Lehigh Hanson, we believe that carbon capture and storage technology will play a key role in transforming the cement industry and building a more sustainable future,” said Joerg Nixdorf, President of Lehigh Hanson’s Canada Region. “We are excited about taking the next steps in our ambitious journey to achieving carbon neutrality across the cement and concrete value chain.
“Having a carbon hub solution in place by 2025 is essential for the successful implementation of the CCUS project at our Edmonton cement plant,” Nixdorf added.
“Lehigh Cement’s pioneering CCUS project is an exciting addition to our proposed Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub, which is poised to support the decarbonization of multiple industries, including power generation, oil and gas, and now cement,” said Colin Gruending, Enbridge Executive Vice President and President, Liquids Pipelines. “This collaboration demonstrates our focus on local, cost-effective, customer-focused carbon transportation and storage solutions that drive scale and competitiveness while minimizing infrastructure footprint to protect land, water and the environment.”
“We applaud Lehigh and Enbridge in advancing plans for definitive climate action in Canada with this full chain CCUS initiative and we are proud to be a part of the carbon capture development at Lehigh’s Edmonton cement plant,” said Mark Demchuk, National Director, Strategy & Stakeholder Relations at the International CCS Knowledge Centre. “Collaborative CCUS solutions like this are a vital enabler of large-scale emissions reductions, across multiple industries, including cement production.”
“The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) welcomes the announcement of an MOU between Lehigh Hanson and Enbridge for Lehigh’s Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage project in Edmonton, Alberta. This is another positive step forward in the development of Lehigh Hanson’s CCUS project, supporting an end-to-end solution for carbon capture and permanent storage,” said Michael McSweeney, CAC President/CEO. “These types of partnerships on critical technologies like CCUS are how we will win the fight against climate change and demonstrate to Canadians and the world how our hard to abate industry will reach its net-zero ambition. We are so pleased to see this CCUS project moving forward.”
on January 25, 2022
By Sponsored Content
Article/Editing:
Dorothy Neufeld
Graphics/Design:
Miranda Smith
The following content is sponsored by the Carbon Streaming Corporation.
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Each year, the world’s forests absorb roughly 15.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).
To put it in perspective, that’s around three times the annual CO2 emissions of the U.S. or about 40% of global CO2 emissions. For this reason, forests serve as a vital tool in regulating the global temperature and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
In this graphic sponsored by Carbon Streaming Corporation, we look at the Earth’s natural carbon sinks, and break down their carbon storage.
Carbon Storage by Ecosystem
Forests contain several carbon sinks, from living biomass such as roots and leaves to soil. In fact, soil contains nearly twice as much carbon than the atmosphere, plant, and animal life combined.
Soil: 2,500 gigatonnes (Gt)
Atmosphere: 800 Gt
Plant & animal life: 560 Gt
The soil type, vegetation, and climate all affect how carbon is stored. For example, colder and wetter climates promote the most effective carbon storage in soil.
Global Carbon Storage* (Tonnes of carbon per hectare)VegetationSoilWetlands 43 643
Boreal forests 64 344
Temperate grasslands 7 236
Tundra 6 127
Tropical forests 120 123
Tropical savannas 29 117
Temperate forests 57 96
Croplands 2 80
Deserts and semideserts 2 42
*Average stored carbon in tonnes per hectare at a ground depth of one meter
Source: IPCC
Wetlands are substantial reservoirs of carbon. Despite occupying only 5-8% of the Earth’s land surface, they hold between 20 to 30% of all estimated organic soil carbon.
Risks to Natural Carbon Sinks
Around 8.1 billion tonnes of CO2 leaks back into the atmosphere each year.
Over the last 20 years, the world has lost about 10% of its tree cover, or 411 million hectares (Mha). The main causes behind this are forestry (119 Mha), commodity-driven deforestation (103 Mha), and wildfires (89 Mha). What’s more, research suggests that Amazon rainforests emit more carbon than they absorb due to record levels of fires, many of which are deliberately set to clear for commodity production.
With the increasing frequency of wildfires and deforestation, the world’s forests are at risk of releasing carbon. Protecting and preserving these biomes is critical to the Earth’s carbon balance and mitigating climate change.
Carbon Credits Provide a Solution
Given the risk of losing critical carbon sinks, carbon credits play an important role in preserving these ecosystems.
Carbon credits can help finance projects that reduce or remove GHG emissions from the atmosphere. From improved forest management to reforestation, there are a number of different types of carbon projects across wetlands, grasslands, and various forests:
Reforestation and Afforestation
Avoided Deforestation
Natural forest management
Wetland restoration
For instance, a carbon credit project may preserve endangered tropical lowland peat swamp forests spanning thousands of hectares, such as the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve Project in Indonesia, one of the projects that Carbon Streaming has a carbon credit stream.
Through this project, forests are prevented from being converted into palm oil plantations to reduce and avoid 130 million tonnes of GHG emissions during the 30 years of the project.
Another example would be the Cerrado Biome Project in Brazil, another carbon offset project where Carbon Streaming has a stream agreement. This project is protecting and preserving native forests and grasslands from being converted to commercial agriculture.
Importantly, these projects would not be economically viable without the sale of carbon credits.
Protecting Stored Carbon
To prevent further loss of stored carbon, government policies, NGO-led initiatives, and the financing of carbon offset projects are gaining momentum. Taken together, they offer the critical intervention needed to preserve the earth’s carbon vaults.
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