CALGARY — A project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from an Alberta coal plant and store them underground has been scrapped.
The CEO of TransAlta, one of the companies behind Project Pioneer, says an initial study found the technology works and that the capital costs were in line with expectations.
But Dawn Farrell says the market for CO2 credits and the price for emissions reduction is insufficient to go ahead with the $1.4-billion project.
She says the partners are disappointed, but they’ve learned a lot about the technology and believe carbon capture and storage technology will play a future role in cutting the energy sector’s carbon footprint.
Project Pioneer was among the carbon capture projects to receive funding from the provincial and federal governments.
The Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, says it’s clear the project failed because government did not provide enough incentive for industry to cut its carbon emissions.