CALGARY – A new carbon capture and storage tax credit expected to be unveiled in the federal budget next week is spurring public debate.
Some environmental organizations are calling on the Trudeau government to scrap its pledged tax credit. They say funding carbon capture and storage projects is another way of subsidizing the oil and gas industry.
But Ottawa says increased use of carbon capture technology is necessary if Canada is to have any hope of meeting its net zero goals.
Carbon capture and storage is a technology that captures greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources and stores them deep in the ground to prevent them from being released into the atmosphere.
The oil and gas industry has been lobbying for a tax credit to help pay for projects like a proposed carbon capture network in the oilsands producing region of northern Alberta.
Environmental think tank the Pembina Institute says capturing and storing C02 from oilsands facilities, refineries and gas plants could reduce Canada’s emissions by 15 million tonnes by 2030.