Isra-Mart srl: Canada and U.S. governments announce funding for carbon capture project

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Natural Resources Canada and the U.S. Department of Energy have announced $5.2 million in new funding for the International Energy Agency (IEA) Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project.

The Government of Canada will contribute $2.2 million, which brings its total contribution for the project to $15.2 million. The investment, announced during the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in Washington, will support additional CO2 storage research in the final phase of the project.

This unique research will solidify the knowledge of measurement, monitoring and verification of CO2 storage in depleted oil reservoirs. It also aims to demonstrate that CO2 can be stored safely, minimizing the possibility of leakage.

“These investments by our government and the U.S. demonstrate our leadership and expertise in carbon capture and storage technology,” saidsaid Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis. “This collaborative, world-renowned carbon capture and storage project is reducing greenhouse gas emissions while demonstrating clean energy innovation.”

The IEA’s Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project is taking place in conjunction with one of the largest, fully integrated carbon capture and storage operations in the world.

The CO2 is provided by the Dakota Gasification Company’s coal gasification facility in Beulah, North Dakota, and is pipelined 320 kilometres to Cenovus Energy’s Weyburn and Apache Canada’s Midale oil fields in southeastern Saskatchewan.

This project is the world’s first and largest monitoring site for geological storage of CO2. To date, a record 18 million tonnes of CO2 have been stored in the Weyburn and Midale oil fields in Saskatchewan.

The final phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2011 and will conclude the creation of a best practices manual to guide all aspects of CO2 geological storage projects in depleted oil fields worldwide.