The Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility, near Edmonton, is showing that CCS works – in its first two years of operations, Quest has captured and safely stored two million tonnes of CO2, and has achieved this milestone ahead of schedule.
Shell believes that society will need effective carbon pricing mechanisms and carbon capture and storage (CCS) to achieve its climate goals. The good news is that Canada is showing leadership in both. Our provinces are implementing world-leading climate policies and Canada has nearly one fifth of the 22 large-scale CCS plants operating or under construction around the world.
The Quest facility is operated by Shell on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project.
How it works: Carbon Capture and Storage
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Global demand for energy is increasing and the challenge is to meet this demand
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while reducing our carbon footprint. Part of Shell’s solution involves carbon
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capture and storage and that's why we built and operate Quest at the Scotford upgrader. The
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upgrader turns thick heavy oil from the oil sands called bitumen into synthetic crude
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that can then be refined into everyday products like gasoline and jet fuel. Shell
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uses hydrogen to upgrade the bitumen to a lighter oil but making hydrogen
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creates carbon dioxide or CO2 Quest captures the CO2 from the upgrader’s
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hydrogen manufacturing plants with a product called Amine that absorbs CO2. The CO2
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is then separated from the Amine and pressurized to turn the CO2 gas into a
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liquid that can be transported by pipeline 65 kilometers north through well sites.
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At the wells the liquid CO2 is injected more than two kilometres
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underground into a layer of rock filled with interconnected pores. The CO2
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becomes trapped within the pores and locked in under many layers of solid
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watertight rock. Constant monitoring both above and below ground makes sure the CO2
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stays safely and permanently in place. Quest is on track to capture and store
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over one million tonnes of CO2 every year. That's equivalent to the emissions
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from about two hundred and fifty thousand cars. We know that up here
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carbon dioxide is a big problem but we believe deep down there lies an
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important part of the solution.
Watch as one of our carbon storage experts tests her father’s knowledge on the environmental significance of her work in carbon capture.
To meet the UN agreement to reduce emissions, the world must seriously look at carbon capture storage technology, says Sally Benson, one of the world’s leading energy experts.
In its first operating year, Quest has captured and safely stored one million tonnes of CO2, and has achieved this milestone ahead of schedule.
By investing in renewable and sustainable resources, as well as research and development into alternative technology and emissions management, Shell is helping meet the world’s growing energy needs in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways.
Learn more about the energy challenge and carbon capture and storage by downloading the Inside CCS app.
David Hone is Shell’s Chief Climate Change Adviser. Since 2008 he has written a weekly blog, through Shell, about energy and climate change issues, from the personal perspective of somebody working in the oil and gas industry.
Hone has two published e-books, available for download in the “Putting the Genie Back” series.
A new supplement from the Shell Scenarios team “A Better Life with a Healthy Planet: Pathways to Net-Zero Emissions” illustrates choices, challenges and ideas for society to decarbonise the global economy in a way that might address both the challenge of climate change and the desire for broader economic growth.