Page 5 - NorthAmOil Week 12 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

with 2014. Its investment in Svante illustrates dioxide (CO2) from flue gas, concentrate it and
that it is also looking to carbon capture, and then release it for storage or industrial use, with
aims to bring down the cost of the technology. Svante claiming it can do this at half the capital
cost of “traditional engineered solutions”.
CCS focus Suncor’s investment brings the total pro-
Carbon capture is increasingly viewed as a ceeds raised under Svante’s Series D financing
critical component of the energy transition, to $100mn, completing what the companies
and Suncor’s investment, as well as Imperial’s said was the largest single private investment
comments on future technologies, reflect this. into point source carbon capture technology
Cenovus, too, has flagged up CCS in discus- globally to date. US-based super-major Chev-
sions of its emissions reduction goals. When the ron is also among the investors into the Series
company unveiled its net-zero target in January D financing.
2020, Cenovus’ executive vice-president of envi- “Svante has generated a pipeline of potential
ronment, corporate affairs and legal, Al Reid, new project opportunities capturing over 40mn
described the goal as an “aspirational” one, but tonnes of CO2 per year before 2030 from nat-
with a path to reaching it. ural gas industrial boilers, cement and lime,
“The reason that it’s aspirational is we know and blue hydrogen industrial facilities, mainly
there’s technologies that are in a nascent state in North America and spurred by both US and Cenovus, too, has
today that could allow that to happen,” he told Canada federal CO2 tax credits and prices on
CBC News at the time. “But they’re not com- CO2 emissions,” stated Svante’s president and flagged up CCS
mercial today.” He added that CCS was a pri- CEO, Claude Letourneau. “The net-zero pledges in discussions
mary example of this, and was among the of major countries and large corporations is also
initiatives Cenovus was working on as it set off a key driver for the interest and rapid growth of of its emissions
down the path to net zero. the carbon capture and storage new industry.”
And commercialisation of CCS is also what Cenovus is also an existing investor in Svante reduction goals.
Suncor is targeting with its investment in Svante. according to Letourneau.
“Carbon capture is a strategic technology While Suncor and Imperial have not yet
area for Suncor to reduce GHG emissions in adopted net-zero goals – and indeed Imperial is
our base business and produce blue hydrogen resistant to taking the step – they can be seen to
as an energy product,” stated Suncor’s CEO, be increasingly looking to carbon capture along-
Mark Little, last week. “An investment in Svante side those oil sands majors that have committed
is expected to support the acceleration of com- to net zero.
mercial scale deployment of a technology that Commercialisation of CCS is among the
has the potential to dramatically reduce the cost next step if carbon capture is to play the sig-
associated with carbon capture.” nificant role in the energy transition that is
Vancouver-based Svante has now attracted increasingly expected of it. How this will play
$175mn in total funding since it was founded out remains unknown, but the rise in invest-
in 2007 to develop its solid sorbent technology. ments into CCS players and technologies can
This technology will be used to capture carbon only help speed the process.™

Week 12 25•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5