Embracing Carbon Capture and Storage Solutions
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a transformative technology showing immense promise for Canada’s energy sector with the potential to reduce carbon emissions from industrial processes and power generation.
A low-carbon future
By capturing carbon dioxide emissions and using them for beneficial purposes or safely storing them underground, CCS can significantly contribute to achieving Canada’s net-zero climate goals while preserving critical energy-dependent industries and jobs. CCS fosters innovation and collaboration across multiple sectors, positioning it to play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable and low-carbon future for Canada’s energy landscape.
The CCS cycle has multiple stages operating together with various industries to capture, transport, store, and monitor CO2.
Is it CCS or CCUS?
Utilization jobs are often considered part of the industrial sector such as manufacturing.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a process to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere and store it safely underground, sometimes the energy sector refers to this process as Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). The difference between the two is the utilization piece, some industries are innovating ways to use the excess carbon to make useful products like soap and concrete.
Capture
CCS begins with capturing carbon, CO2, from multiple points in the chain of production in various carbon-emitting industries that provide the world with products and services we need. Concrete, agriculture, steel, and oil and gas are just a few examples of valuable sectors relying on CCS to reduce their emissions for Canada’s net-zero future.
Carbon in the atmosphere can be gathered through direct-air capture in addition to industries working together to capture their own carbon emissions throughout various stages of production.
Transport
Once captured, high temperatures are used to compress carbon for more efficient transportation where it can be either stored or utilized for different applications.
Pipelines are still the most efficient method for transporting carbon. Designed to handle the specific characteristics of CO2, pipeline networks connect industrial facilities and plants to storage sites. Rail and trucks are still used to transport smaller amounts of carbon, and ships are occasionally used for longer distances.
Storage
Carbon is injected and sequestered at least 800 metres deep underground where it is permanently and safely stored.
Specific subsurface sites are chosen for storage including saline formations, massive porous rocks filled with brine where the carbon can safely flow and settle. Oil and natural gas reservoirs where oil and gas have been extracted can be refilled with carbon. Unminable coal seams that cannot be mined due to their features or restrictions are still suitable for carbon sequestration.
Measurement, monitoring, and verification
Measurement, monitoring, and verification — or, MMV — is the important, constant process of observing and tracking carbon once it’s stored underground.
Different MMV technologies monitor the behaviour of the subsurface carbon plume. Using seismic tools like acoustic sensors or fibre optics, vibration waves are sent underground, returning to the surface with data maps of the CO2. Additional atmospheric and soil testing monitor the land and air surrounding the storage site.
Did you know?
Western Canada’s Unique Role
Western Canada is one of only 20 worldwide locations considered ideal for carbon storage, with vast experience and knowledge gained from Canada’s oil and natural gas sector, along with the unique geology of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, where the majority of Canada’s conventional oil and gas development has taken place.
Oil & gas and CCS: Career crossover
The sites, processes, and practices of CCS greatly overlap with the oil and gas industry. Not only does this position Canada as an expert in the growing sector, it also means that careers that have been essential to the oil and gas industry for decades will also be essential to the CCS space going forward.
Working in CCS
Career prospects in Canada’s CCS energy sector are promising. As Canada strives to meet its emission reduction targets and transition to a low-carbon economy, CCS is expected to gain increasing attention and investment, providing numerous career opportunities to work in Carbon Capture and Storage.
Franki Race Technical Operations Associate, Carbon Management Canada
Meet Franki Race, a dynamic young professional making waves in the CCS industry.
“CMC has given me the opportunity to grow as an individual as well as a professional. Due to the nature of working in a smaller team, I get the chance to be involved in all aspects of the company.”
Are you a fit for a career in carbon capture and storage?
View careers in CCS