OPTI Canada Inc. (OPTI) announced today that it is collaborating with the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) to research cost-effective and realistic approaches to carbon dioxide (CO(2)) capture and storage. The organizations are working together to better understand the opportunities presented by CO(2) capture, optimize technology selection and evaluate opportunities for long-term CO(2) storage. The initiative is jointly funded by AERI and the owners of the Long Lake Project, OPTI and Nexen Inc.
"This project is a perfect fit with AERI's mission to work in partnership with industry to evaluate and develop advanced technologies that reduce the environmental footprint of oil sands operations," said Eddy Isaacs, Executive Director of AERI. "The Long Lake Project is a state-of-the-art oil sands operation, with a unique design that facilitates the capture of a concentrated stream of CO(2). The knowledge gained through this collaboration will be
transferable to our work with the industry as a whole, and will also assist government agencies in developing policies for the sustainable development of the province's valuable oil sands resources."
"Our proprietary integrated OrCrude(TM) process is designed to significantly decrease our reliance on natural gas, while producing the highest quality crude from Canada's oil sands with low operating costs," said Jim Arnold, Chief Operating Officer of OPTI. "We are the first to apply gasification technology in Canada's oil sands to convert low value bitumen components into useful fuel energy and hydrogen, a technology that can also be a key step in carbon capture. We see our collaboration with AERI as a natural extension of our work to find creative and practical ways to responsibly extract the long-term value of our resource base."
Working Towards a Comprehensive CO(2) Solution
OPTI is also a member of two leading Canadian consortiums investigating CO(2) capture and storage, ICO2N and ASAP.
The Integrated CO(2) Network (ICO2N) is a proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) system for Canada. It is intended to provide a framework for an efficient, environmentally sensitive system of CO(2) capture, transport and long-term storage as well as explore opportunities for using captured CO(2) to enhance hydrocarbon recovery. The companies participating in the ICO2N carbon capture and storage initiative represent a cross-section of Canadian industry committed to helping Canada meet its climate change objectives while supporting economic growth. Once constructed, this proposed Canadian CCS system will move CO(2) captured from multiple industrial sites via pipeline to storage sites deep underground.
The Alberta Saline Project (ASAP) is an industry supported initiative to identify suitable locations for the long-term storage (sequestration) of CO(2) in deep geological formations. The consortium is identifying and prioritizing suitable deep saline aquifer locations for a pilot program to demonstrate the feasibility of CO(2) storage. The project will involve industry participants, government agencies, academic organizations and consultants in an effort to design and demonstrate safe and reliable long-term storage.
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