Re: Carbon capture no 'silver bullet'

Andrea Harden-Donahue
RE: Carbon capture no 'silver bullet', Globe and Mail
June 5, 2009

While it is good to see that Environment Minister Jim Prentice has been paying attention to the Council of Canadians and other organizations that have been saying for months that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is no silver bullet solution for the tar sands, he still has a ways to go.

There remain significant barriers to CCS. The viability of this technology which literally buries the problem of CO2 emissions (potentially contaminating groundwater) remains in question. The technology has limited capacity in the tar sands and requires increased energy use by coal-fired plants. There are no commercial examples of a large power plant using CCS. The cost of implementation requires a high price on carbon to be economically practical – estimates range from $15 to $115 for each tonne of emissions avoided through CCS.  Just this past March, the Economist magazine referred to CCS as mostly ‘hot air’ for now.

Continuing to tout CCS as a key ‘clean energy technology’ while failing to prioritize investments in public renewable energy capacity, energy efficiency measures and maintaining emission reduction targets well below the range scientists say are necessary, are examples that our government is not taking the task of addressing climate change seriously.

Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy Campaigner, Council of Canadians