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Some Canadians express skepticism online about investing in carbon management and ask why we don’t just plant more trees. This transcript explains what carbon management is, why we’re investing in this technology, and why planting trees alone won’t be enough to meet our goals.
Carbon capture utilization and storage, or CCUS technologies, are safe and powerful tools to reduce harmful emissions from industrial processes like steel, cement, oil, and gas production, which are essential to our economy but often require high temperature and complex chemical reactions that produce CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas with a significant impact on climate change. Newer carbon dioxide removal technologies can even capture CO2 directly from the air, which is the only way to permanently address CO2 that has already been emitted. Once captured, carbon can be compressed and transported to use safely in things we’re already familiar with, like concrete. And now technology is helping us go even further, turning what could have once been pollution into cleaner fuels and chemicals. CO2 can also be stored deep underground in stable rock formations, including some of the same ones that once held oil and gas. In Canada, we have great natural geology for this, which keeps the carbon safely stored for the long term out of our air and out of our environment.
While trees are a powerful natural climate solution, planting alone won’t be fast or large scale enough to handle all of Canada's emissions, especially in sectors that are tough to decarbonize, like cement or steel. For example, to match the 6,600,000 tons of CO2 that SaskPower's Boundary Dam Unit 3 has captured since 02/2014, we would have to plant between two hundred and twenty and four hundred and forty million trees and wait for them to grow over decades to reach the full carbon absorption. That’s why carbon management needs to be part of the climate solution. According to the International Energy Agency, reaching net zero emissions globally without carbon management is virtually impossible. That’s why countries around the world, Norway, Japan, The United Kingdom, and Australia, are all significantly investing in carbon management just like Canada. With continued investment, carbon management is helping to build stronger industries, attract global capital, and position Canada as a leader in low carbon technology.
Investing in carbon management supports our climate goals and long term prosperity by reducing emissions while creating good jobs and supporting Canadian industries. It’s a win win. It’s a smart solution for a cleaner, stronger Canada. Remember, energy solutions equals Canada as an energy superpower.