Teck Trail announced last week that the B.C. government has directed $10 million into the company’s pilot project involving carbon capture.
Construction of the plant is underway.
The company said in a July 12 news release that $10-million from the CleanBC Industry Fund “will advance the assessment of viable options for carbon utilization and/or sequestration of the captured carbon dioxide (CO2) from Trail operations.”
“Teck is continually evaluating opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint while supplying the critical resources required for a low-carbon future,” said Jonathan Price, CEO, Teck. “This funding will help advance our innovative carbon capture pilot at Trail operations, with important support from CleanBC, which is an excellent example of the alignment and collaboration between industry and government in achieving our shared climate goals.”
There have been about 100 workers, contractors, and Teck employees involved in the project since it began, a Teck spokesperson told the Trail Times.
“Construction is ongoing and the carbon capture pilot plant is expected to begin operation later this year,” the spokesperson confirmed.
First announced in July 2022, the carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) pilot project was described by the company as part of “Teck’s Net-Zero Climate Change Strategy including the goal to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations by 33 per cent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.”
About the Trail CCUS pilot
Once operational, the Trail CCUS pilot is expected to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from Trail operations at a rate of one tonne per day. If successful, the project could be scaled up to an industrial CCUS plant with the potential to capture over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 per year at the Trail smelter, described as “the equivalent emissions of more than 20,000 cars.”
What is CCUS?
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a suite of technologies that capture CO2 from facilities, including industrial or power applications, or directly from the atmosphere. Once the CO2 is captured, it is then compressed and transported to be permanently stored in geological formations underground, such as saline aquifers and oil reservoirs, or used to create products including concrete and low-carbon synthetic fuels. CCUS technologies can deliver ‘negative emissions’ by removing CO2 from the air (direct-air-capture) or from biomass-based energy and storing the CO2.
Read more: Carbon capture utilization and storage pilot coming to Teck Trail
Read more: Teck announces low-carbon refined zinc at Trail smelter
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