string(18) "[Energy-Resources]"

Central Interior BC Carbon Storage Assessment

Lead Researcher(s):  TBD

Project ID:  2022-008

Key Research Organization(s):  TBD

Project Location:  North Central, South Central and Northwest BC

Strategic Focus Area:  Energy-Resources

Summary



This foundational research project is assessing the geological carbon capture and storage (CCS) potential for the Nechako Basin, assisting the transition to a net-zero emissions economy and potentially diversifying economies across central and northern British Columbia. The basin lies in BC’s North Central, South Central and Northwest regions, and the project is focussing south-southwest of Prince George. The research will provide industry, communities and Indigenous groups with geological CCS data to inform clean energy decisions and guide actions.

Historical geological exploration in the Nechako Basin has revealed Jurassic and Cretaceous zones with good reservoir characteristics, an important attribute for carbon sequestration. With its proximity to infrastructure and greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters, carbon storage options could significantly reduce GHG emissions and enable development of potential future clean energy projects (e.g., hydrogen produced using natural gas).

The project will compile all available geoscience data and reports for the basin, focusing on deep saline aquifers, to identify and quantify carbon storage potential. The published and freely available results will provide data and information that can be used to evaluate CCS opportunities.

Current research funders are the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Enbridge, Foresight’s BC Net Zero Innovation Network and Geoscience BC. Geoscience BC will continue to seek additional support.

Confirmed Partners

The Need

BC hosts a range of rock formations and structures with the potential to sequester captured carbon dioxide. Understanding this potential is critical to understanding the role that CCS can play in BC and Canada’s transition to a net-zero emissions economy. A first step is to reinterpret existing data to provide a preliminary evaluation of carbon storage potential that can be used by industry, regulators, governments, communities, academia and Indigenous groups.  

Project Goals

This Energy project fits under Geoscience BC’s Strategic Objective of ‘Enabling Clean Energy’.

Specifically, the goals for this project are to:

  • Develop a consortium of industry partners to fund and participate in the geological carbon storage assessment of the Nechako Basin.
  • Compile a reference list of past projects and published research studies.
  • Provide mapping and shapefiles of the main geological carbon storage potential reservoir units for the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous zones.
  • Provide mapping of primary faults and structural features.
  • Publish an atlas-style report.
  • Generate a preliminary assessment of CCS technical risks.
  • Identify data gaps and recommendations for future research projects.

Project Benefits

As demonstrated by previous projects such as the Northeast BC Geological CSS Atlas, a publicly available atlas of carbon capture and storage potential in the Nechako Basin will be a key source of information for interested groups and an essential tool in the transition to a net-zero emissions economy.

Current emitters, such as in the energy and forestry sectors, and potential future emitters, such as a hydrogen generation industry, will benefit from an understanding of potential geological carbon storage options.

This foundational research could identify opportunities to diversify central and northern BC’s natural resource economies. The assessment can enable decision-making around the decarbonization of communities and industrial sectors, enhance the economic value and benefits of BC’s energy resources by increasing efficiency, create new opportunities for innovation and collaboration, and enable knowledge transfer and capacity building through the project’s collaborative approach.

Location

This desktop study covers the Nechako Basin, focusing south-southwest of Prince George.

Geoscience BC encourages anyone planning geological exploration work to first contact Indigenous groups in the area. The Province of British Columbia’s Consultative Areas Database can help with this (https://maps.gov.bc.ca/ess/hm/cadb/). The Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) also produces an Indigenous Engagement Guidebook