Carbon Unbound West Coast convened on January 22-23 in Vancouver. Among the themes drawing hundreds of climate leaders to the conference was a question that matters for the tech sector and heavy industry alike—how to scale carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) from pilot projects to commercial deployment.

Alberta has been working on the answer for more than a decade. The province's combination of oil and gas expertise, geological storage capacity, and supportive policy has created what is becoming a blueprint for CCUS development. For Vancouver's tech community and the carbon capture and sequestration sector gathering at Carbon Unbound, Alberta's experience demonstrates what's possible when infrastructure, innovation, and investment align.

Alberta's advantages in CCUS aren't accidental. The province combines geological capacity—over 100 billion tonnes of CO₂ storage in deep saline aquifers and oil and gas reservoirs—with a century of subsurface expertise from oil and gas operations. Add supportive policy frameworks, and the result is an ecosystem purpose-built for carbon capture at scale.

While the principle of carbon capture is well-understood—separate CO₂ from industrial emissions or the atmosphere, transport it, and store it permanently underground—executing at commercial scale presents multiple barriers: High capital costs for projects and supporting infrastructure, significant energy requirements for capture and storage, the need for pipeline networks to connect emission sources with storage sites, and the requirement for specific geological conditions to name a few.

These challenges are well addressed by the province says Stacie Lara, Director of Energy at Invest Alberta,  "Alberta is home to a high concentration of prominent energy companies," she explains, "This provides existing pipeline infrastructure, extensive geological data, and a skilled workforce for subsurface engineering and geology that are important for CCUS implementation."

The province's advantages are substantial. Alberta has an estimated storage capacity exceeding 100 billion tonnes of CO₂. That geological capacity, combined with more than a century of oil and gas operations, means the province has both the physical space for permanent storage and the technical knowledge to make it work.

Alberta's CCUS infrastructure isn't hypothetical. Shell's Quest project, which captures CO₂ from the hydrogen plant at the Scotford Upgrader, went into commercial operation in 2015. The captured carbon travels via a 65-kilometre pipeline to be sequestered in an underground saline formation. Since operations began, Quest has successfully captured and stored nearly 10 million tonnes of CO₂.

Five years after Quest launched, the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) began operating. Owned and operated by Wolf Midstream, the 240-kilometre pipeline can transport up to 14.6 million tonnes of CO₂ annually. Crucially, ACTL is multi-party and open access, meaning it can connect different emitters to various end uses—creating shared infrastructure that reduces the barrier for new projects.

Currently, ACTL is transporting 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂, with the capacity to scale as new projects come online. Twenty-two CCUS projects are under evaluation by the Alberta government, with the potential to increase the province's CCUS capacity to approximately 56 million tonnes of CO₂ per year by 2030.

Commercial deployment requires more than pipelines and storage sites. It demands technological advancement to make the process more efficient and economically viable.

The primary method for capturing post-combustion CO₂ from flue gas uses amine-based solvents. Exhaust gas rises through a tower containing an amine solution, which binds with the CO₂. The mixture is then diverted to separate chambers where high-temperature steam separates the amine from the carbon dioxide. While effective at removing 90% of CO₂ from exhaust, the process consumes significant energy.

InnoTech Alberta's Amine Intensification Project (AIP) addresses this challenge. The project has developed a microwave-based process that uses less solvent, reducing energy requirements by 75%. InnoTech Alberta owns the Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre, where AIP will be available for demonstration in 2026, allowing companies to test the technology before committing to full-scale implementation.

This kind of innovation is possible because Alberta has deliberately built infrastructure to support it. InnoTech Alberta's Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre, along with universities conducting CCUS research, creates an environment where companies can develop, test, and scale carbon capture technologies before committing to full commercial deployment.

Additional infrastructure is progressing toward operation. The TC Energy Alberta Carbon Grid CO₂ Storage Project is in the feasibility stage, due to begin operations in 2027 with a storage capacity of 2,000 metric tonnes. Pathways Alliance is seeking regulatory approval for a 400-kilometre transportation pipeline and 250-kilometre connecting pipelines to oil sands facilities in north-east Alberta, estimated to be operational by 2029-30.

In 2024, Entropy began construction on Glacier Phase 2 in north-west Alberta, aiming to create the world's first decarbonized gas plant through carbon capture. Phase 1, completed in 2022, achieved total CO₂ capture capacity of 32,000 tonnes per annum. Phase 2 is under construction and is expected to add 160,000 tonnes of capacity annually.

Commercial CCUS deployment requires addressing economic realities. Policy support is important for industry growth in the CCUS sector, primarily due to high upfront capital costs, revenue uncertainty without strong carbon pricing, infrastructure requiring long-term planning, long-term liability and regulation, and market development for emerging technologies.

Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) programme sets carbon pricing at $95 per tonne. Companies have economic incentive to capture emissions and store them to avoid paying carbon tax or purchasing carbon credits. CCUS projects can generate offset credits through TIER, helping address capital expenditure challenges.

The federal government provides investment tax credits offering up to 60% refundable CCUS capital costs for qualified projects. These credits can combine with funding programmes including the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program, Emissions Reduction Alberta, and the Clean Resource Innovation Network.

The Alberta Carbon Capture Incentive Program (ACCIP) supports CCUS infrastructure development by providing incentives for facilities incorporating the technology into operations, offering up to 12% of eligible capital costs. The programme supports various sectors including oil sands, oil and gas production, enhanced oil recovery, petrochemicals, power generation, manufacturing, and cement production.

Alberta has established a comprehensive regulatory framework ensuring CCUS technology deploys safely and responsibly. Various aspects are covered through existing oil and gas legislation, while the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act supports and promotes the protection, enhancement and wise use of the environment by designating proposed activities for which an approval or registration is required.

Alberta's existing oil and gas workforce brings transferable skills to CCUS operations, while the province's post-secondary institutions—including the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary—are training the next generation of talent through specialized research and degree programmes.

The results show in the numbers. Calgary has the highest concentration of completed STEM degrees of any Canadian city. Alberta has the youngest workforce in Canada, with 73.8% of workers holding a post-secondary certificate or university degree in 2024. Combined with the province's established infrastructure and incentive programmes, this has made Alberta an attractive destination for major international investment in carbon capture.

Alberta's CCUS infrastructure and incentives have drawn significant international capital. Air Products has a multi-billion-dollar investment well under construction to build the world's largest net-zero hydrogen network, including the only liquid hydrogen production facility in Western Canada. 

Japanese companies are also moving into the province: Marubeni entered into a share subscription agreement with Bison Low Carbon Ventures' Meadowbrook Carbon Storage project, while Sumitomo Corporation of America secured exclusive rights to acquire interest in the East Calgary Carbon Transportation and Sequestration Project through an agreement with Reconciliation Energy Transition Inc.

As carbon capture and sequestration becomes increasingly critical for meeting climate targets, Alberta's experience demonstrates what's possible when geological advantages, existing infrastructure, and supportive policy combine. 

For B.C.'s tech sector, particularly companies working on climate solutions, data centres, and AI infrastructure requiring significant energy and looking to offset emissions, Alberta's CCUS ecosystem represents accessible carbon capture and storage capacity. The province's pipeline infrastructure, proven storage sites, and regulatory framework provide pathways for companies seeking to integrate carbon capture into their operations.

Alberta's commercial operating experience since 2015 has generated practical knowledge about deploying CCUS at scale. The challenges remain real. But Alberta's approach of combining government incentives, industry expertise, technological innovation, and sustained development of commercial projects has created tangible solutions.

With 22 projects under evaluation and potential capacity reaching 56 million tonnes annually by 2030, Alberta's CCUS sector is positioned for significant expansion. For companies and investors looking at carbon management opportunities in Western Canada, the province offers proven infrastructure, supportive policy, and a decade of lessons learned from commercial operations.

This article is sponsored by Invest Alberta. For more information about carbon capture opportunities in Alberta, visit investaberta.ca