Out of the air and into the ground: Alberta and Canada join forces to assess technology to capture greenhouse gases

The governments of Canada and Alberta will lead a national effort to ensure Canada takes full advantage of its status as the global front-runner in technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it deep underground.

The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and the Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach, announced today the formation of a Canada-Alberta ecoENERGY Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force to recommend the best ways for Canada to implement the technology on a large scale.

“Instead of pumping tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere, we may be able to collect it from our oilsands operations, our coal-fired electrical plants, and other industrial emitters, and pump it deep underground where it will remain for eternity,” said Prime Minister Harper. “This is a promising technology that could leverage Canada’s expertise and Canada’s geography.”

“Carbon capture holds great potential and promise as a tool in our quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Premier Stelmach. “Together, using technology and innovation, we can be good stewards of the environment while at the same time enhancing Alberta’s position on the cutting edge of energy production.”

Building on Canada's CO2 Capture & Storage Technology Roadmap, released by Natural Resources Canada in March of last year, the Task Force will examine the opportunities for large-scale application of carbon capture and storage technology in Canada. Based on that examination, the Task Force is to provide a comprehensive set of options describing how government and industry can work together to take advantage of those opportunities.

The chair of the ecoENERGY Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force will be Mr. Steve Snyder of TransAlta.  Mr. Snyder’s biography and the biographies of the other members of the Task Force are attached.

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Backgrounder

Canada-Alberta ecoENERGY Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force 


The Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Alberta Minister of Energy will establish and provide strategic guidance for a Canada-Alberta ecoENERGY Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force. The two governments aim to build consensus and move forward on an action plan to allow Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to reach its full potential in Canada.  For all Canadians, CCS will be key to reconciling our energy realities with our goals for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

Fortunately, Canada is an ideal situation to take advantage of and enhance our global leadership on this technology. In particular, Western Canada has large concentrations of CO2 being produced in close proximity to world class storage opportunities, with longer-term potential available elsewhere in Canada.

Building on existing work such as the CO2 Capture and Storage Technology Roadmap, the Task Force will develop and build support for a comprehensive blueprint for implementing a large-scale CCS system in Canada.  It will identify and assess current obstacles that are preventing more widespread adoption of CCS, and outline actions, roles and responsibilities for the federal and provincial governments, industry, and other stakeholders. 


Biographies of Canada-Alberta ecoENERGY Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force Members

Steve Snyder  Chair

Stephen G. Snyder joined TransAlta Corporation in September, 1996 as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Prior to joining TransAlta, Mr. Snyder had a successful career with Noma Industries Limited and General Electric Corporation, in Canada and Belgium. As President and CEO of Noma Industries Limited from 1992 to 1996, Mr. Snyder advanced the company from a largely Canadian consumer products manufacturing company to a North American industrial products company. As Chairman and CEO of GE Canada Inc., Mr. Snyder continued with the transformation of GE's Canadian based businesses into global competitors.

Between 1978 and 1992, Mr. Snyder held a variety of key positions with General Electric Corporation, including Managing Director, Eurolec plc in Brussels (1991–1992), President and CEO of Camco Inc. (1989–1991), Vice President and General Manager, GE Lighting Canada (1986–1989), after a series of increasingly responsible positions in the marketing division at Camco Inc.

Mr. Snyder has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. In addition, he has honourary degrees from the University of Calgary (LLD), and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Bachelor of Applied Technology).

He is a Director of TransAlta Corporation and CIBC. He is Chair of The Conference Board of Canada, Chair of the Calgary Stampede Foundation, and a Director of the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede. Mr. Snyder is a past chair of the Calgary Zoological Society (2002–2006), the Canadian Electrical Association (2002), the United Way Campaign of Calgary & Area (2001) and the Calgary Zoo's "Destination Africa" capital campaign (2003). In 2005, he was awarded the Alberta Centennial medal.

David Keith

Professor Keith works in climate science, energy technology and public policy. Roughly half of his technical and policy work addresses the capture and storage of CO2, including work managing the risks of geologic storage and services in his work as chair of a crosscutting group for the IPCC special report on CO2 storage.

Professor Keith serves as a member of several advisory boards and panels including Canada's ‘blue ribbon' Panel on Sustainable Energy Technology, and the InterAcademy Council study on Transitions to a Sustainable Energy Systems, and as member of U.S. National Academy committees.
Professor Keith's broader climate  and energy related research addresses the economics and climatic impacts of large scale wind power, the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel, and the technology and implications of geoengineering.

Professor Keith has addressed technical audiences with articles in Science and Nature. He has consulted for national governments, industry and environmental groups and has reached the public through U.S. and Canadian radio and television.

Professor Keith is trained as a physicist. As a graduate student at MIT, he built the first interferometer for atoms work which was the "hottest topic" in physics according to ISI's citation index. As an atmospheric scientist he worked at NCAR and Harvard, where he served as lead scientist for a new Fourier transform spectrometer with high radiometric accuracy that flies on the NASA ER 2 high altitude aircraft.

Keith returned to Canada in 2004, taking a position at the University of Calgary, where he leads a research group on energy and environmental systems.

Kathy Sendall

As Senior Vice President of Petro Canada, Ms. Sendall is responsible for the company's oil and gas exploration and production in North America. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, she is also accountable for the effective integration of the planning and execution of Western Canada business objectives with overall strategies and activities of the corporation.

Ms. Sendall first joined Petro Canada in 1978 and, after leaving to spend two years working with Nova Gas Transmission, rejoined the company as an Engineering Supervisor of Offshore and International Joint Ventures. Ms. Sendall held various supervisory positions until 1991, when she was appointed Wholesale Marketing Manager for Petro Canada Products. In 1994, Ms. Sendall served as Manager and, later, Director of Business Development in the Natural Gas Liquids Business Unit. In 1996, she was appointed Vice President, Engineering and Technology. In 2000, she was appointed Vice President, Western Canada Development and Operations and in 2002 was appointed Senior Vice President, Western Canada.

Ms. Sendall graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Mechanical Engineering, and attended the Western Executive Program at the University of Western Ontario Business School in 1990.

Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson is President of Kinder Morgan Canada, one of the largest energy transportation, storage and distribution companies in North America. His responsibilities include the executive oversight of a 4,500-kilometres petroleum pipeline system that transports production from the Alberta oilsands to British Columbia and the United States.

Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Anderson was Vice President of Finance and Corporate Services at Terasen Pipelines, Inc., and he also served as Vice President of Finance and was Corporate Controller at Terasen Inc. Mr. Anderson has extensive experience in the Canadian energy sector having provided executive leadership in the areas of finance, regulatory affairs, marketing, business development, strategy development and human resources.

Mr. Anderson is a graduate of the University of Michigan Executive Program and a Certified Management Accountant. He is currently a board member of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association and a member of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines and the Financial Executives Institute of Canada.

Patricia Youzwa

Ms. Youzwa was appointed to the position of President and CEO in July of 2004 after serving as Vice President of SaskPower Customer Services since 2001 and as President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthPoint Energy Solutions, a SaskPower subsidiary. She joined SaskPower as Vice President of Corporate Planning and Regulatory Affairs in 1999.

Prior to joining SaskPower, Ms Youzwa ran a business consulting company for three years. Before that, she held a number of positions with the public service of the Government of Saskatchewan, including Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines.

Ms. Youzwa has served on the Minister's Advisory Council on Science and Technology for Natural Resources Canada and she was the Vice Chair of the Natural Resources Canada Advisory Board on Energy, Science and Technology. She is currently Chair of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation and a Director of the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy.

Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Economics from the University of Saskatchewan, and Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Toronto.

Ex-officio members

Cassie Doyle

Cassie Doyle was appointed Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada in June 2006.

Previously, she had been with Environment Canada — first as Assistant Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Service Innovation, then as Associate Deputy Minister beginning in December 2003.


Ms. Doyle came to the Government of Canada from the British Columbia Assets and Land Corporation, where she was President and CEO. From 1992 to 1999, Ms. Doyle held senior positions in the Government of British Columbia, including Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks; Small Business, Tourism and Culture; and Housing and Consumer Services, as well as Assistant Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Earlier in her career, she occupied various positions with the City of Ottawa and, in 1987, she was the Executive Director of the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. Ms. Doyle holds a Master of Social Work degree in Public Policy and Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.

Dan McFadyen

Mr. McFadyen, a professional engineer with over two decades of experience in public service and the energy sector, joined Alberta Energy as Deputy Minister in January 2006.

Mr. McFadyen’s wealth of knowledge and experience in the energy industry provides the public sector executive and Alberta energy sector experience needed to play a key leadership role in the implementation of Alberta's energy policies.

Prior to joining Alberta Energy, Mr. McFadyen was responsible for the development of policy initiatives in the areas of regulatory and financial affairs as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy, with the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA).

Over the course of his career, Mr. McFadyen has served as Deputy Minister of Energy in Nova Scotia (2002 2004) and as Chair and Acting President and CEO of the Saskatchewan Research Council (2000 2001). He also served as Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) in several key positions in the Saskatchewan public service including, ADM, Resource Development, Department of Industry and Resources, and ADM, Resource Policy and Economics Division, Department of Energy and Mines.

He earned a B.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering) at the University of Manitoba, and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.