Canadian federal government invests $4.9 million in field research station

A unique field research station to accelerate the development and deployment of technologies to monitor and verify secure underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is being supported with a $4.9 million investment by the federal government.

Yesterday, the Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification Michelle Rempel announced the investment to fund the CMC Research Institutes (CMC) project which, with support from the University of Calgary, Cenovus and Schlumberger, is constructing the facility located southwest of Brooks, Alberta. 

When completed in early 2016 the field research station (FRS) will be the first of its kind in the world with injection of small volumes of CO₂ at an intermediate depth, simulating release into a subcritical geological horizon. The project will help lower the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects for reducing Western Canadian industrial greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the energy sector, and to accelerate commercialization opportunities in international markets.

Over the past year, particularly around GHGT-12 in Austin, the UKCCSRC has been in discussions with CMC to explore future collaboration opportunties and access for UK researchers to the FRS. The UKCCSRC aims to support this work through an upcoming call of the International Research Collaboration Fund.

For more information on yesterday’s announcement, see the full story on the CMC website: https://www.cmcghg.com/federal-government-invests-4-9-million-in-field-research-station/