Industry has no illusions about making fast money on carbon cleanup technology. “This is going to be a cost of business, certainly at this stage of the game. There’s not going to be a return,” he says.

The worth of emissions reductions will rise and profits for making them will emerge to the degree that environmental policy becomes clearer and stronger, Carter predicts. The provincial Tory green plan’s capture and storage commitment, a world first, aims to get Alberta in on a good thing through an early start on building a disposal system. “If we sit back and wait until carbon’s value is high enough to say capture and storage makes business sense, it will be too late,” Carter warns.

“There has been a lot of study. There is a tremendous body of knowledge. What we need now is a bias for action – to get going.”

As the provincial auditor-general observes, that bias is built into Carter’s marching orders. His part of the Alberta Tory green plan is happening.

The government’s $2-billion commitment to technology partnerships followed an early recommendation by his group. Formal industry expressions of interest in participating were received in September. A Nov. 1 deadline for completed project proposals was firm, in order to hit a target of next March 31 for funding decisions.

Carter’s council will not review the industry applications or choose projects. His group includes executives of companies in the lineup. “We didn’t want to be in conflicts of interest,” he says.
The group is drawing up a blueprint for knitting carbon capture and storage projects together into a
cleanup network in time to hit the Alberta emissions reduction target. Besides matters of grand strategy like establishing harmony between provincial and federal programs, Carter’s role includes resolving thorny practical issues with big legal, financial and operational implications for all concerned. Among those: who will own greenhouse gas disposal sites, be responsible for preventing leaks and take charge of cleaning up any accidents.

Carter vows to deliver a detailed carbon cleanup blueprint on schedule at the start of 2009. A tentative version calls for a continuous effort in three overlapping phases, starting early next year and running to 2050 and beyond.

First comes “piloting.” As many as five “vanguard projects” field test technology and cut emissions in the process by up to five million tonnes per year by about 2018.

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