The province is contributing $1.5 million toward made-in-Alberta solutions to the greenhouse gas emissions that render the Kyoto climate change treaty irrelevant, says Alberta Environment Minister Lorne Taylor.
Climate Change Central, a private sector/public agency the provincial government established in 1999 to tackle global warming, will use the money to kick-start and leverage additional funding for projects to reduce emissions, Taylor said.
“From my perspective, Kyoto is irrelevant,” he said of the international accord to reduce greenhouse gases which are blamed for global warming.
The yet-to-be-ratified treaty’s fate looks uncertain after President George W. Bush withdrew U.S. support in March.
“I think Alberta has very clearly stated that we will reduce greenhouse gases, with or without Kyoto,” Taylor said at the recent official opening of Climate Change Central’s offices in Calgary.
“I think we have to become more activist,” he added.
Alberta produces about 25 per cent of Canada’s industrial greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Canada produces about two per cent of the world’s total greenhouse gases, compared with approximately 25 per cent for the U.S.
The scientific consensus is that rising levels of the gases are trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures worldwide, which could have disastrous consequences for the Earth’s climate.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, 39 industrialized nations including Canada agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to an average of 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by the period 2008-2010.
Details of implementing the treaty are contentious, and another negotiating session is scheduled for July in Bonn, Germany.
In response to climate change, the Alberta government in 1999 committed $6 million over three years to Climate Change Central. Its role is to act as a catalyst and co-ordinator for emission-reduction projects proposed by individuals, businesses, institutions and governments.
Taylor said the agency’s performance will be monitored, but he expects it will be able to leverage an additional $4 from partners for every $1 Climate Change Central invests in projects.
He disputed a contention by several environmental groups — including the Alberta-based Pembina Institute which is represented on Climate Change Central’s board — that voluntary measures alone won’t achieve the emission-reduction targets set by the Kyoto accord.
Canada’s emissions have actually increased by more than 16 per cent above the 1990 baseline year in the accord.
But, Taylor said: “I don’t think money’s an issue here. I think the province and private sector will fund what we need to do, to get this job done.”
Climate Change Central is about “working together for sensible solutions,” agreed David Tuer, the agency’s co-chair and chief executive of PanCanadian Petroleum. “It’s a catalyst for climate change action.”
David Pollock, executive director of the Pembina Institute and a board member of Climate Change Central, said the government’s initial funding is a positive signal. But he considers it only “a down-payment to additional work,” and he expects additional funding from both the public and private sectors for more projects.
Pollock said his vision of Climate Change Central is that it will achieve for Alberta a zero net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. However, the volume of greenhouse gases in the province has been rising steadily since 1990.
That means “at the end of the day, the value of Climate Change Central stands or falls on how effective have we been in actually reducing emissions,” Pollock said.
Taylor said that given the private sector’s commitment on the agency’s board, “I’d say industry is very clearly buying into this and we will reduce greenhouse gases, period.”
Senior industry executives on the board include: Charles Fischer, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Nexen Inc.; Steve Snyder, president and chief executive of TransAlta; Gordon Ulrich, president and chief executive of coal giant Luscar; Darshan Kailly, president and chief executive of Canadian Freightways Canada; and Bill Hunter, vice-president of operations and general manager of forestry firm Al-Pac.
Climate Change Central announced its initial two projects, which together will cost about $500,000. The funding, most of which is in addition to the $7.5 million invested by the province, will come from a consortium of government and industry partners.
Allan Amey, president and chief executive of Climate Change Central, said: “Let’s get the focus off the K-word and Kyoto, and let’s get the focus on taking action.”
The U.S., despite Bush’s rejection of the Kyoto accord, still plans to spend millions of dollars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Amey said. “I’d like to see the same thing happen here (in Alberta). It just makes good economic sense. It makes good sense in terms of health issues as well.”
Climate Change Central has received nearly 90 project proposals. The agency has established a committee of experts to independently review proposals and make recommendations on which ones should receive support.
The Alberta government and most industries in the province favour reducing emissions through technological innovations and market-based solutions, rather than through mandatory limits on actual emissions coming out of “smokestacks.”
Climate Change Central’s initial two projects reflect this approach.
The first project, to cost about $300,000, will look at the cost and effectiveness of capturing and storing industrial carbon dioxide emissions in western Canada that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere. The gas would be injected into and stored permanently in deep underground rock formations, a technology called “carbon sequestration.”
PanCanadian Petroleum, one of the project’s sponsors, and other companies are already injecting huge volumes of CO2 underground to enhance the recovery of oil.
“If we can come up with strategies and technologies and policies to sequester (CO2) underground, it’ll substantially reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta,” Taylor said.
The Calgary-based Canadian Energy Research Institute will lead the carbon capture-and-storage project. Other sponsors include Western Economic Diversification Canada, agencies from the federal, Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan governments, and major petroleum and utility companies.
The second project, to cost about $200,000, involves measuring and compiling an inventory of the carbon that is stored in soil on farms in Western Canada.
Most prairie soils can accumulate about 1.5 to three tonnes of carbon per hectare over a 10- to 20-year period, providing farmers use low-tillage and other environmentally friendly land-management practices.
At the Kyoto negotiating table, Alberta has supported Canada’s position that countries should receive credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the carbon stored in farmland and forests. The treaty also allows for the setup of domestic and international markets to buy, sell and trade such credits.
The agricultural carbon project announced by Climate Change Central also will develop a set of protocols that will allow farmers to eventually sell their credits to potential buyers.
No projects were announced to support the development of alternative energy sources — something for which environmental groups have been pushing.
There are some alternative energy projects among the nearly 90 proposals now being evaluated by Climate Change Central, Amey said. He expects that some of these projects will receive funding or support from other partners, once the evaluation process is completed.
Other projects that are eligible include energy efficiency in buildings and communities, improved vehicle and transportation efficiencies and public education.
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