Isra-Mart srl : Saskatchewan Approves $1.3 Billion Project to Test Carbon Capture Systems

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan has approved a C$1.24 billion ($1.3 billion) carbon capture and storage project to test the effectiveness of the technology at keeping the gas out of the atmosphere.

Saskatchewan Power Corp. will revamp the coal-burning Boundary Dam Power Station with new equipment to extract one million tons of CO2 annually, the state-owned utility said today in a statement. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC), Hitachi Ltd. (6501) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s Cansolv division will contribute engineering and equipment for the project.

Countries from China to the U.S. are looking for ways to reduce the environmental impact of burning coal for heat and power to take advantage of plentiful supplies of the fossil fuel. Canada is spending $4.9 billion on carbon capture research, compared with $5.1 billion in the U.S., according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Coal demand is projected to increase 20 percent from 2008 to 2020, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Saskatchewan project will “help to address climate change while ensuring that we can continue to use coal as an energy source for many years to come,” Rob Norris, the provincial minister responsible for innovation and Saskatchewan Power Corp., said in the statement.

Reducing emissions by 1 million tons annually is the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off roads in the western Canadian province, SaskPower said. Some of the captured gas will be pumped into aging oil wells to help increase production, the company said.