cover image: RE: Proposed amendments to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act to remove the prohibition on carbon sequestration (ERO: 019-6296)

20.500.12592/9hr2wc

RE: Proposed amendments to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act to remove the prohibition on carbon sequestration (ERO: 019-6296)

9 Jan 2023

In November 2022, the Government of Ontario introduced a proposal to remove the prohibition on geological carbon storage by amending the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act through Bill 46, the Less Red Tape, Stronger Ontario Act. [...] Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will be critical to global progress on climate change as they contribute both to reducing emissions directly from high-emitting industries and removing carbon from the atmosphere.1 As such, CCS will be critical to the competitiveness of many hard-to-abate, carbon-intensive, and trade-exposed sectors of Ontario’s economy as they work towards net-zero am. [...] While the prohibition on geological carbon storage was originally designed to facilitate the phase-out of coal- fired generation in Ontario, it is no longer needed and is preventing industry from unlocking the economic and environmental benefits of carbon capture. [...] We also applaud the Ontario government’s recent decision to amend the Emissions Performance Standards program to recognize carbon dioxide captured and appropriately sequestered in certain CCS projects as an emission reduction. [...] We look forward to working with your government to support Ontario businesses in their efforts to address climate change, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue further.

Authors

Claudia Dessanti

Pages
2
Published in
Canada