Ottawa backs 3 emissions reduction projects in Alberta with $6.4M

Three Alberta projects — a heat recovery system, improved natural gas boiler efficiency, and a small-scale biogenic carbon capture and storage project fuelled by manure — are getting a boost from the federal government. 

Julie Dabrusin, federal minister of environment and climate change, announced government funding of over $13 million for three Alberta energy projects and two in the Northwest Territories, with all five centred on lowering emissions and generating clean growth.

"We're not only protecting our environment, but we are also building a strong competitive economy that can thrive in a low-carbon future," said the recently-appointed environment minister in Yellowknife on Wednesday.

Alberta's three federal funding recipients will get approximately $6.4 million through the Low Carbon Economy Fund.

Cavendish Farms is installing a heat recovery system at its Lethbridge site, allowing the potato-processing facility to reduce its reliance on natural gas. The project is being backed by $1.375 million in government funding.

The system will allow heat energy from the facility's fryer exhaust to be recovered and deposited into other processes requiring heat.

Sherritt International's fertilizer plant in Fort Saskatchewan will increase the efficiency of its natural gas-fired boilers, which it uses to generate steam, with $1.6 million from the government.

The facility, which refines cobalt and nickel while producing ammonia and ammonium sulphate fertilizer, will lower its greenhouse gas emissions by having economizers added to its boilers, allowing boiler water to be preheated without additional natural gas combustion.

Taurus Canada RNG (Renewable Natural Gas) is constructing a small-scale remote carbon capture and storage system near Coaldale. The project, which is being federally funded with just over $3.4 million, is connected to a manure anaerobic digestion facility at the Kasko Cattle Co. Ltd. feedlot.

The remaining $6.9 million is going to Denendeh Manor and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation in the Northwest Territories. Denendeh Manor, located in Yellowknife, will get around $2.3 million for energy-efficient retrofits to lower its carbon footprint, while the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is getting about $4.6 million to provide cabins in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region with ground-mounted solar installation kits.

"Through investments like these, the Government of Canada is empowering communities and organizations to lead the way in securing long-term economic and environmental success," said Dabrusin.

Public funding over private investment is 'disappointing'

The money being invested in these initiatives is relatively small but also not an insignificant amount, said Kent Fellows, an economics professor at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy.

"I don't think any of them are massive game changers, but they're all making marginal improvements that will be generally good for the climate footprint," he told CBC News.

He said financially backing projects like the small-scale anaerobic digestion project in Coaldale is an opportunity to prove the initiative could be economically viable on a larger scale.

While acknowledging the financial risk around projects like the ones being funded, Fellows said "it is always a little bit disappointing when we see that we have to use public money" to support emissions reduction initiatives.

"The goal of a market-based system like a carbon-pricing system is supposed to be to give the private sector an incentive to make these investments," he said.

"This is public money that's going toward this with these subsidies, rather than private money," he said. "The fact that we're seeing the federal government do it … that's maybe not quite as optimal, but it's still good to see that the initiatives are going ahead."

Fellows said he is "optimistic that the more wins we get, if these do turn into wins, the more likely it is to sort of crowd in that type of investment" from the private sector.

Established in 2017, the Low Carbon Economy Fund is part of the federal government's $9.1-billion 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.