Catalyzing carbon removal and avoidance solutions in British Columbia

British Columbia Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy develops first-of-its-kind Carbon Management Blueprint to decarbonize B.C.

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 4, 2022 /CNW/ - The British Columbia (B.C.) Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is leading the development of a B.C. Carbon Management Blueprint, a first-of-its-kind in Canada, aimed at identifying opportunities to scale carbon management projects across the province.

CICE has partnered with Deloitte to produce the Blueprint, and is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy to steer the development of the project.  

The Blueprint, which is expected to be publicly available later this year, will highlight solutions across the entire carbon management value chain including carbon capture utilization and storage, negative emission technologies, and natural climate solutions.

"We know the world cannot reach net zero without actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere," says Ged McLean, Executive Director of CICE. "B.C. companies and technologies already lead the world with carbon management technology developers in direct air capture, point source capture and mineralization. British Columbia has an abundance of natural assets for carbon storage in our forests, our oceans and the earth beneath them both.  We have a growing pool of talented innovators coming through our universities and colleges who are ready to work hard on new technologies, processes and plans. British Columbia should be the world leader in carbon removal and storage, and we intend this Blueprint to be the first step towards helping B.C. realize this potential."

The Blueprint will also define key carbon management solution areas and include a comparative benchmarking of B.C. and leading global jurisdictions through a techno-economic, and regulatory lens, highlighting key opportunities and challenges to investing and scaling these solutions in the province. It will conclude with a three-to-five-year actionable roadmap to implement carbon management solutions in B.C.

"Our CleanBC plan supports a wide range of investments and projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, stimulate economic activity, and promote partnerships with industry," said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. "The Carbon Management Blueprint helps us further target our actions to advance our CleanBC goals, grow our clean energy sector, and keep our economy strong."

The conclusions and recommendations in the Blueprint will be based on extensive research, including consultation with a Guiding Coalition established by CICE, consisting of key changemakers within the carbon value chain, with the potential to implement projects in the province. The Coalition includes: Ben Goodier (Canfor), John Sanden (Carbon Engineering), Jason Switzer (Carbon Management Canada), Jonathan Rhone (CO280), Santiago Arribas Picon (Enbridge), Marty Reed (Evok Innovations), Alex Grzybowski and Candice Wilson (First Nation Climate Initiative), Tim Shaw (NorthRiver Midstream), Davis Chiu (Paper Excellence), Tim Wiwchar (Shell), Chris Adachi (Teck Resources), Stephanie Voysey (Lafarge), Kurtis Barrett (Petronas), Brett Henkel and Roxane Roy (Svante), Lindsay Mackay (TC Energy), Scott Volk (Tourmaline), Scott MacDougall (Pembina Institute).

"British Columbia is at a critical juncture as it develops its industrial policy to meet the province's 2030 reduction target for the oil and gas sector, along with long-term pathways for other heavy industries," said Scott MacDougall, Senior Advisor at the Pembina Institute. "The Pembina Institute is pleased to be a partner in this joint initiative and looks forward to advancing carbon management projects across the province. Technologies such as carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, and forest carbon storage will play an important role in meeting the province's 2030 and 2050 targets."

First Nations, industry, academia and others will also be invited to participate in a stress test to validate findings and ensure that the Blueprint's content resonates with key rights and title holders, and stakeholders. If you are interested in attending and providing comments on the Blueprint's draft findings and recommendations as part of the stress test, please e-mail [email protected] by October 14, 2022.

B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy

Founded by the Government of British Columbia and Shell Canada, and supported by the Canadian Federal Government, the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is an independent nonprofit organization that takes decisive and urgent action to enable clean energy breakthroughs in B.C. that supports the province in achieving its net zero targets, and beyond. CICE's most important stakeholder is the planet; its purpose is first and foremost to protect and preserve the Earth for future generations. Together with its members, CICE enables clean innovation like the future of the planet depends on it, because it does. To learn more, visit at www.cice.ca  or connect on LinkedIn and Twitter.  

SOURCE B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy

Media Enquiries Contact: B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE), [email protected]