Pathways vision is anchored by a major Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) trunkline connected to a carbon sequestration hub to enable multi-sector tie-in projects for expanded emissions reductions. The initiative pathways to address GHG emissions includes:
In addition to collaborating and investing together with industry, it is essential for governments to develop enabling policies, fiscal programs and regulations to provide certainty for this type of long-term, large-scale investment. This includes dependable access to carbon sequestration rights, emissions reduction credits (RECs) and ongoing investment tax credits. (Source: Canadian Natural Resources, PR, Website, 9 June, 2021)
Contact: Canadian Natural Resources,
Tim McKay, Pres., (403) 517-6700,
Facsimile (403) 517-7350 , www.cnrl.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Oil Sand, Carbon Emissions,
The project would slash Alberta's CO2 emissions by more than 2 million tpy and help Canada reach its 2050 target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by capturing and storing (CCS) more than 90 per cent of the CO2 produced from energy required to produce the hydrogen.
Suncor will build and operate the hydrogen production and CO2 sequestration facilities and Atco will construct and operate the associated pipeline and hydrogen storage facilities. Roughly 65 pct of the hydrogen would be used by Suncor in refining processes and cogeneration of steam and electricity, reducing emissions by up to 60 pct at its Edmonton refinery. Another 20 pct would be added to the provincial natural gas grid to reduce emissions and the remainder will be sold to various users, according to the release.
The hydrogen production facility, which would be located at Atco's Heartland Energy Centre near Fort Saskatchewan, is expected to face an investment decision in 2024 and could be operational as early as 2028. (Source: Suncor, Canadian Press, 11 May, 2021)
Contact: Suncor, Mark Little, Pres. & CEO, www.suncor.com; Atco Ltd., www.atco.com/en-ca.html
More Low-Carbon Energy News Suncor, CCS, Atco, Hygrogen, Carbon Emissions, CO2,
Suncor Energy Inc., LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and British Airways are among the other LanzaJet investors.
LanzaJet's technology is uniquely able to produce up to 90 pct of its fuels as SAF, with the remaining 10 pct as renewable diesel. The LanzaJet process can use any source of sustainable ethanol for jet fuel production, including, but not limited to, ethanol made from recycled pollution, the core application of LanzaTech's carbon recycling platform, according to LanzaJet. (Source: LanzaTech, Shell, Digest, Apr., 2021) Contact: LanzaTech, LanzaJet, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, (630) 439-3050, jennifer@lanzatech.com, www.lanzatech.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Shell, LanzaTech, LanzaJet, SAF,
With the latest investment, total proceeds raised under Svante's Series D financing equate to $100 million -- the largest single private investment into point source carbon capture technology globally to date, according to Suncor.
Svante CEO Claude Letourneau noted, "Svante has generated a pipeline of potential new project opportunities capturing over 40 million tonnes of CO2 per year before 2030 from natural gas industrial boilers, cement and lime, and blue hydrogen industrial facilities, mainly in North America and spurred by both US and Canada federal CO2 tax credits and prices on CO2 emissions." (Source: Suncor, PR, GasWorld, 18 Mar., 2021) Contact: Suncor, Mark Little, Pres. & CEO, www.suncor.com; Svante Inc., Claude Letourneau, , Pres., CEO, Julia McKenna , Inv. Relations, 604.456.0504, jmckenna@svanteinc.com, www.svanteinc.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Suncor Energy , Svante, CCS,
Suncor reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $168 million on revenue of $6.6 billion, compared with a net loss of $2.34 billion on revenue of $9.6 billion in the same period of 2019, with both sets of numbers heavily influenced by asset writedowns.
The company says the current loss includes a $142-million after tax transportation provision related to the recently cancelled Keystone XL oil export pipeline project, offset by a $539-million unrealized after-tax foreign exchange gain on U.S. dollar denominated debt. (Source: Suncor Energy, Canada Press, Feb., 2021) Contact: Suncor Energy, www.suncor.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Suncor , Carbon Emissions,
The plant -- which has received funding from Suncor Energy Inc., natural gas company Proman, Hydro-Quebec and the Quebec and federal governments -- will use Montreal-headquartered biofuels producer Enerkem Inc technology to process contaminated wood, construction and demolition leftovers, plastics, municipal and solid waste into methanol and ethanol. The plant will use hydrogen produced from hydroelectricity as its gasification agent.
As previously reported, Shell Canada's other biofuels partnership in Sombra, Ont., will convert waste fats and oil into renewable diesel using technology developed by Alberta-based Forge Hydrocarbons Corp.
The Canadian federal government estimates the global biodiesel market will grow to $44-billion by 2025. (Source: Shell Canada, PR, Enerkem, Jan., 2020) Contact: Enerkem, Dominique Boies, CEO and CFO, 514-375-7800, communications@enerkem.com, www.enerkem.com; Forge Hydrocarbons, www.forgehc.com; Shell Canada, www.shell.ca
More Low-Carbon Energy News Forge Hydrocarbons, Shell Canada, Enerkem, Biofuel, Ethanol, Waste-to-Fuel, Biodiesel,
The proposed $875 million (Cdn) Varennes Carbon Recycling facility would produce ethanol and renewable chemicals from roughly 200,000 metric tpy of wood waste, forest biomass and non-recyclable plastic and solid waste materials using a proprietary thermochemical technology.
Enerkem notes the proposed project will leverage green hydrogen and oxygen produced through electrolysis and include construction of one of the world's largest renewable hydrogen and oxygen production facilities.
The first phase of the proposed project is slated for commissioning in 2023. (Source: Enerkem, Website, 8 Dec., 2020)
Contact: Enerkem, Dominique Boies, CEO and CFO, 514-375-7800, communications@enerkem.com, www.enerkem.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Enerkem, Ethanol, Biofuel,
Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. and Japanese trading and investment company Mitsui & Co. Ltd. are investing $15 million and $10 million, respectively, to establish LanzaJet. The funding will be used to construct a demonstration plant that will produce 10 MMgy of SAF and renewable diesel starting from sustainable ethanol sources. Production is expected to start in early 2022.
This initial investment coupled with participation from All Nippon Airways will complement the existing $14 million grant from the U.S. DOE, enabling the construction of an integrated biorefinery at LanzaTech's Freedom Pines site in Soperton, Georgia, according to the LanzaTech release.
The LanzaJet process can use any source of sustainable ethanol for jet fuel production, including, but not limited to, ethanol made from recycled pollution, the core application of LanzaTech's carbon recycling platform.
Commercialization of this Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ) process began with a partnership between LanzaTech and the DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the development of a unique catalytic process to upgrade ethanol to alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK) which LanzaTech took from the laboratory to pilot scale.
(Source: LanzaTech, PR, 3 June, 2020) Contact: LanzaTech, Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, (630) 439-3050, jennifer@lanzatech.com, www.lanzatech.com; Suncor Energy, www.suncor.com; Mitsui & Co, www.mitsui-global.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News LanzaTech, Suncor, Mitsui, SAF, Aviation Biofuel, Renewable Diesel,
In its appeal, Suncor, which received waivers for what were previously two refineries in Commerce City, Colorado, argued the agency's action was "arbitrary, capricious, and not otherwise in accordance with law." The EPA reportedly rejected Suncor's petition because the refineries no longer meet EPA's definition of a small refinery, which produces 75,000 bpd or less. Suncor previously received waivers for what were two small refineries, one that produced nearly 33,000 bpd and another at nearly 67,000 in 2018. The refineries were among the original facilities to receive waivers in 2006.
According to the company's website, since 2006, Suncor has been making a significant impact in Canada's emerging biofuels industry. Suncor is using revenues from oil sands development to invest in biofuels, particularly ethanol produced from corn. Ethanol is a cleaner burning, renewable resource. The ethanol production industry is expanding in Canada and the United States. New government regulations require that a percentage of ethanol be blended into fuels to reduce the environmental impacts of vehicle emissions. Suncor operates Canada's largest ethanol facility -- the St. Clair Ethanol Plant in the Sarnia-Lambton region of Ontario. (Source: Suncor Energy, DTN, 6 Jan., 2019) Contact: Suncor Energy USA, 303-793-8000, www.suncor.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Suncor Energy , RFS, "Hardship Waiver",
Along with its investment, Suncor will provide technical resources to support the operations of Enerkem's Alberta Biofuels (EAB) plant in Edmonton. The plant is the first commercial-scale plant in the world to turn non-recyclable, non-compostable mixed municipal solid waste into cellulosic ethanol.
(Source: Enerkem, Biofuels News, Oct., 2019) Contact: Enerkem, Dominique Boies, CEO and CFO , 514) 875-0284, dboies@enerkem.com, www.enerkem.com;
Suncor Energy, www.suncor.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Cellulosic Ethanol, Enerkem, Suncor Energy,
The researchers, mainly from Environment Canada, calculated emissions rates for four major oilsands surface mining operations using air samples collected in 2013 on 17 airplane flights over the area. In results published today in the journal Nature Communications, the scientists say the air samples from just those surface mining operations suggest their carbon dioxide emissions are 64 pct higher, on average, than what the companies themselves report to the federal government using the standard United Nations reporting framework for greenhouse gases. The findings suggest Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions would be around 2.3 pct higher than previously thought.
The report suggests the differences between the new estimates and previously reported numbers are related to methodology. The standard "bottom up" method sees companies quantify the amount of fuel they use at each source of their operation, from extraction to delivery of crude to refineries. They then calculate their carbon emissions from their fuel use. The scientists behind the Environment Canada study used a "top-down" approach involving hundreds of air samples taken during more than 80 hours of flights over four major surface mining operations in northern Alberta: Syncrude Canada's Mildred Lake facility, Suncor's Millennium and North Steepbank site, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s Horizon mine, and what was then Shell's Albian Jackpine operation, now majority owned by Canadian Natural.
The gap between the facilities' reported CO2 emissions and the levels calculated by researchers was 13 pct for the Suncor site, 36 pct for the Horizon mine, 38 pct for Jackpine and 123 pct for Syncrude.
The study did not include emissions from all oilsands operations that use in-situ extraction, pumping steam into the ground to get the petroleum out. About 80 pct of oilsands reserves, and the majority of current production, require in-situ extraction. That means the overall amount of under reported greenhouse gas emissions could be significantly higher.
(Source: Environment Canada, CBC News , 23 April, 2019) Contact: Environment Canada, John Liggio, www.linkedin.com/in/john-liggio-34349467
More Low-Carbon Energy News Environment Canada, Carbon Emissions, Oil Sands, Carbon Emissions,
The funding, which comes from the province's carbon levy on industrial emitters, is being awarded through Emissions Reductions Alberta's 2018 Industrial Efficiency Challenge which was designed to implement leading technologies in oil and gas, chemicals and fertilizers, cement and concrete, forestry and agriculture, electric power generation and manufacturing.
The following projects have received ERA funding commitments:
The 11 projects are anticipated to eliminate more than 5.3 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030 -- the equivalent of bringing more than 1,300 wind turbines online and significant reductions in operating costs are also expected. Funding will be distributed on a milestone-by-milestone basis, and the progress of each project is reported on until completion, according to a release. the province said. (Source: Gov. of Alberta, jwn, Feb., 2019)Contact: Gov. of Alberta, Emissions Reduction Alberta, www.eralberta.ca
More Low-Carbon Energy News Greenhouse Gas, GHG, Government of Alberta,