A research facility to convert CO2 emissions into valuable products is now open at Alberta’s largest natural gas-fired power plant.
Owned and operated by InnoTech Alberta, an applied research subsidiary of Alberta Innovates, the Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre will use flue gas emissions from the Shepard Energy Centre in Calgary to “test and refine” new technologies.
The first tenants of the facility will be five finalist teams from the US$20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition.
"We have a world-class resource, we have world-class talent, and now we have a world-class facility right here in Alberta that will help us on our path to finding ways to produce our oilsands with fewer and fewer GHGs,” COSIA chief executive Dan Wicklum said in a statement.
“Right next to fulfilling our obligation to address this global challenge, is a great business opportunity - turning one of our biggest liabilities, CO2, into a valuable product. It's a great feeling to be a part of this group of partners along with these five finalists in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE who are finding ways that we as businesses, governments and as a country can improve how we serve society by finding pathways to a lower carbon future."
Following completion of the competition in early 2020, the facility will continue as a test centre for new technology development in this area. With its unique capabilities, it is expected to become a global hub for innovators, InnoTech Alberta says .
