Carbon capture, utilization and storage in Nova Scotia

Prepared by the Government of Nova Scotia, June 2024. Questions should be directed to the province of Nova Scotia.

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Importance of CCUS to Nova Scotia
• Nova Scotia-ready opportunities
• World-class innovation in Nova Scotia
• References

Introduction

Nova Scotia (N.S.) is in an excellent position to support the responsible net-zero future envisaged in the Carbon Management Strategy for Canada. With the offshore Scotian Basin’s world-class potential (Figure 1) ^{Footnote 1},^{Footnote 2} for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), N.S. is capable of not only capturing its own relatively minor carbon output but also is well situated to be a net CO₂ importer and CCUS hub for large CO₂ producers. Conceptualized CO₂ transport systems^{Footnote 3} from larger inland carbon-intense producing areas, without available mitigation reservoirs, present real opportunities to build our national network of CCUS with a N.S. end point. N.S. can satisfy a median 177 Gt CO₂ storage, with a possibility of up to 1,280 Gt CO₂ storage (Table 1).

As in the case of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, the knowledge and technological constraints associated with CCUS are largely alleviated by over 20 years’ experience of production at offshore N.S. reservoirs. Furthermore, the policy and regulatory tools required to implement the effective and safe management of CCUS offshore are being investigated by the province. The N.S. offshore has options to store CO₂ in its depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers with known geological sealing geomechanics and minimal risk. There is also the option to use CO₂ sequestration for new oil and gas field development to supply the environmentally and socially responsible bridging fuel for our energy transition needs, consistent with N.S.’s Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. This could be done while ultimately achieving net-zero development.

Importance of CCUS to Nova Scotia

Like most other jurisdictions, natural gas is part of N.S.’s energy mix today and will continue to be seen as a cleaner alternative bridging fuel as we transition to less carbon-intense energy sources. N.S.’s opportunity cannot only address the current CCUS needs of eastern Canada today, but also the needs that will continually be under pressure with projected population growth.

Offshore N.S. is data rich. The work of the Province of Nova Scotia and academia demonstrates considerable knowledge and potential for guiding regulations. While the Cohasset-Panuke Project, the Sable Offshore Energy Project, and the Deep Panuke gas field have been decommissioned as producing oil and gas fields, these project areas are now low-risk CO₂ storage assets and opportunities. N.S. also has 33 active significant discovery licences^{Footnote 4} with known reserves of oil and gas in the Scotian Basin. Enhanced recovery through sequestration and subsequent storage would be a potential socially and environmentally responsible way to produce our resources.

Onshore N.S. subsurface resources fall under the jurisdiction of the Province of Nova Scotia. Although past onshore^{Footnote 5},^{Footnote 6} studies have shown limited potential in the selected onshore basins, exploration of these opportunities is still in its early stages.

Nova Scotia-ready opportunities

N.S. recognizes that the management of CO₂ emissions through CCUS is critical in meeting its own and Canada’s net-zero emissions targets. N.S. is a relatively small emitter of CO₂^{Footnote 3} but it is an emitter none the less. CO₂ storage opportunities are not present or identified in many parts of the country, and some large CO₂ emitters do not have nearby CO₂ storage options. Major CO₂-emitting centres in Quebec and Ontario are close to N.S. but would require a transport network (Figure 2) similar to those that already exist, such as natural gas pipelines. Storage in saline aquifers and reservoirs in offshore N.S. are well characterized and have extensive data coverage including reservoir porosity, permeability, and a comprehensive understanding of areal extent and limitations covered by three-dimensional and two-dimensional marine seismic data with well and production controls. N.S. is attractive for development of CCUS because its storage capacity and risks are relatively well known.

With the storage potential outlined in Table 1, N.S. could achieve carbon neutrality even if all its provincial emissions were stored offshore and would still have the capacity to serve as a CO₂hub for North America.

N.S. can select, optimize and phase storage locations. Cost, credits and commercial drivers can be advantageous with the right development strategy and CO₂ delivery network.

Figure 1: Global prospectivity geological storage of CO₂^{Footnote 7}, ^{Footnote 8}

Table 1: CO₂ storage potential offshore Nova Scotia

Potential	Length (106m)	Width (106m)	Interval (m)		Shape factor	GRV (109m3)	NTG	Phi	NPV (109m3)	1-SWirr	CO2 (Gm/cc)	Storage Efficiency	CO2 Storage (109 tonnes)
Median	650	150	-800	-4000	0.5	78 000	0.5	0.18	7020	0.09	0.7	0.04	177
Low	550	100	-1000	-3000	0.4	22 000	0.4	0.14	1232	0.85	0.65	0.02	14
High	750	180	-800	-5000	0.6	170 100	0.6	0.22	22 453	0.95	0.75	0.08	1280

Gross rock volume (GRV), Net to gross (NTG) fraction of reservoir volume occupied by hydrocarbon bearing rocks, Phi (porosity), Net Porosity Volume (NPV), irreducible water saturation (SWirr). Source: Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Subsurface Energy Development Branch, Cen and Richard 2022

Figure 2: Conceptualized CO₂ transport network

Sources: Natural Resources Canada, 2021—Canadian CCUS Emission Map for the Year 2018; personal communication with Dr. Robin Hughes, CANMET Energy Technology Centre

World-class innovation in Nova Scotia

CarbonCure Technologies

CarbonCure Technologies, a fast-growing CO₂ removal technology company based in Dartmouth, N.S., is on a mission to annually reduce and remove 500 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2030 – equal to taking 100 million cars off the road each year. CarbonCure’s suite of easy-to-adopt technologies enables concrete producers to permanently store captured CO₂ in concrete through carbon mineralization while producing high-quality, low-carbon concrete mixes. Nearly 2.5 million truckloads of CarbonCure’s green concrete have been delivered to thousands of construction sites around the world, including Amazon’s HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia; LinkedIn’s Middlefield Campus in Mountainview, California; and the Calgary International Airport’s East Deicing Apron.

With more than 550 systems sold across 25 countries and a methodology verified by Verra, CarbonCure’s technologies currently save thousands of tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each month – with exponential growth and impact, year-over-year. To date, it has reduced and removed more than 160,000 tonnes of CO₂. That’s equivalent to the annual carbon sequestration of 189,410 acres of forest. CarbonCure’s cutting-edge research and innovation have garnered global recognition and prestigious titles, most notably Carbon XPRIZE Grand Prize Winner, 2020 North American Cleantech Company of the Year, and Cleantech 100 Hall of Fame Company. CarbonCure’s investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, Microsoft, BDC Capital, Carbon Direct, and the Mitsubishi Corporation.

FluxLab research group at St. Francis Xavier University

The FluxLab research group at St. Francis Xavier University is one of the largest environmental science lab groups in Canada and is focused entirely on greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement. The team has been involved in surface MMV for all major CO₂ injection projects in Canada over the past decade and a half. MMV approaches use sensor arrays and/or geochemistry for the purpose of tracking well integrity and demonstrating lack of surface impacts or seepage. The FluxLab team has worked extensively at the Weyburn EOR project, where it designed the current MMV system and still performs the surface monitoring on an annual basis for Whitecap Resources. At Aquistore, the group helped design the surface monitoring system and currently operates the biannual regulatory measurement campaigns on behalf of SaskPower and the Petroleum Technology Research Centre. At Shell QUEST, FluxLab team lead Dr. Dave Risk sat on an expert committee organized by DNV to pre-certify the storage development plan prior to regulatory approval. The team has also worked with Tundra Oil & Gas on CO₂ injection in Manitoba and is currently in talks with Whitecap Resources about new projects in Saskatchewan. In other work, FluxLab is very active in measuring emissions at oil and gas facilities and developing monitoring tools for industry, government and regulators. In recent years, the team has been doing more offshore-oriented oil and gas work, including emissions measurement at facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador. Several years ago, the group developed and patented a fibre-optic gas-monitoring sensor suitable for offshore environments as part of a project funded by Encana/Deep Panuke and scientists across the country. At present, the FluxLab is actively working with NetZero Atlantic and a consortium of partners to develop subsea seepage monitoring and detection capability from active and legacy offshore wells. That project involves submersibles, ship-based monitoring, and sensors.

Planetary Technologies

Planetary Technologies, a carbon removal startup based in Dartmouth, N.S., has developed an Accelerated Carbon Transition (ACT) platform that removes CO₂ from the air while generating green hydrogen and battery metals required for decarbonization.

The ACT platform works by adding alkalinity to seawater via permitted outfalls such as wastewater treatment and power station cooling loops. In seawater, this alkalinity restores ocean chemistry by converting dissolved CO₂ in the form of carbonic acid into carbonates and bicarbonates, effectively locking it away for 100,000 years while countering local ocean acidification. Planetary is working with researchers from Dalhousie University, the University of Miami and Plymouth Marine Laboratories in the United Kingdom to model and verify carbon removals as well as benefits for local marine ecosystems impacted by ocean acidification.

To generate alkalinity while minimizing any process emissions, Planetary’s ACT platform begins by converting abundantly available mine waste from either operating or disused mines. By-products of this metallurgical and electrochemical process include metals such as nickel and cobalt, as well as green hydrogen. These by-products help to offset the cost of carbon removal, and, in some cases, can drive the cost to near zero, providing mine operators with a low-risk way to decarbonize while reducing waste. For disused mines, Planetary’s metallurgical process helps to clean up mine waste, leaving a residue that is mainly silicate or sand.

Planetary is currently moving from bench-scale prototypes to on-site pilot projects in both Quebec and Halifax, N.S. A recent winner of the US$1-million XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award, Planetary has plans to build a commercial scale, 1 kt/yr CO₂ removal demonstration plant by 2024.

Founded in 2019, the company is now an international team of 18 scientists, engineers and innovators and is rapidly growing to meet technology development milestones. Canada is the ideal location to test and build this high-potential, negative-emissions technology given its abundant renewable energy resources, extensive mining industry, access to tailings, as well as the longest coastline in the world.

The Basin & Reservoir Lab, Dalhousie University

The Scotian Basin was identified as one of the few highly prospective Atlantic basins for the storage of CO_2.^{Footnote 7}, ^{Footnote 8} The Maritime provinces have several Paleozoic and Mesozoic basins that are candidates for CO₂ and energy storage. Salt can form an excellent seal to potential reservoirs, and there are 2 salt systems present, the Paleozoic Windsor Group and the Mesozoic Argo Formation. Several porous carbonate and clastic reservoirs are candidates, in addition to potential storage opportunities in coal beds and the even less probable candidates of basalt, fractured shale and fractured granitoids.

At the Basin & Reservoir Lab, research focuses on “Greening of the Maritimes” with the intent of providing a road map for Canada to achieve our GHG mitigation 2030 targets. Proper evaluation of storage capacity and CO₂ emission sources should be completed before designing and building expensive topside infrastructure. Innovative research provides industry and governments with the knowledge to plan and implement CCS. The Basin & Reservoir Lab investigates geologic data (seismic, well and core data) to evaluate basins and model rock behaviour, permeability, porosity and predictions of fluid movement and subsurface disposal in deeper saline aquifers. Optimum storage sites are identified by using subsurface data modelled with Petrel software. Successful deep injection requires assessment of maximum injection rates through a configuration of wells into deep saline aquifers, which requires an understanding of permeability and porosity. Modelling addresses pressurization, fault reactivation (induced seismicity) and caprock integrity. Thermodynamic metrics (temperature, pressure, heat flow, etc.) obtained from well log data are measured to assess changes, including diagenesis, to rock characteristics.

Once prospective CO₂ sequestration reservoirs in sedimentary basins onshore and offshore in the Maritime provinces are evaluated for reservoir storage capacity and caprock integrity, the aim is to identify storage reservoirs, which could be linked by a Maritimes Carbon Trunk Line (MCTL), thus providing the infrastructure for CO₂ transmission to storage sites in the basins. The group proposes that the existing Energy Corridor and the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline be used to create the MCTL, as was done with the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line in the west.

References