BC to study carbon storage capacity

The government of BC, on Canada’s west coast, said June 1 it will work with the newly-established BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) to assess the province’s capacity for carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The work, which will help guide the province’s growing low-carbon energy and CCS sectors, will come from a partnership involving the province, CICE, Geoscience BC and the BC Hydrogen Office.

“Carbon capture and storage is one of the key pathways to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as we transition from fossil-based fuels to cleaner sources of energy,” said Bruce Ralston, BC’s minister of energy, mines and low-carbon innovation. “Mapping potential CCS sites will accelerate investments in CCS projects and supports the development of a low-carbon hydrogen industry in British Columbia.”

Yemi Adefulu, deputy executive director at CICE, said the project will focus on carbon storage potential in the province’s northeast, where much of BC’s natural gas is produced, and is the first step in a broader strategy by CICE aimed at establishing a carbon management economy in BC.

A project advisory committee will be struck to advise on the project, and an engagement plan developed by the end of June. The project is expected to be completed by May 2023.