This story was originally published in Canada’s National Observer, and is reproduced as part of Climate Desk’s collaboration. In a little over three year ago, a menacing mist crept into the valley around the small village of Satartia in Mississippi causing mass poisoning. Residents choking and falling to the ground within minutes of breathing in the air. Nearly
The world’s second commercial-scale carbon capture and storage operation is located at the Boundary Dam Power Station in Estevan, California. AP Michael Bell
As part of the Climate Desk collaboration, this article, which was first published by Canada’s National Observer, is reproduced below.
A much more than three years earlier, a large-scale poisoning was brought on by ominous fog that crept into the valley that surrounded the tiny village of Satartia, Missisippi. Residents choked and fell to the ground within minutes of breathing the air. Almost 50 people were taken to the hospital.
Although the initial responders struggled to reach the scene, they were aware that the catastrophe was brought on by a ruptured carbon dioxide pipeline. Gas-powered vehicles were immobile, and some people were lying in the streets gasping for air. It appeared as though you were experiencing the zombie apocalypse, the town’s county emergency director Jack Willingham told NPR. And he told HuffPost that despite the catastrophe, the village was actually fortunate because there would have been fatalities if the wind had blown separately or the incident had occurred while people were asleep.
A rupture in a carbon dioxide pipeline that day resulted in the destruction of the area by launching an enormous light cloud of concentrated CO2 into the air in an ominous rolling fog. Vehicles wouldn’t run because CO2 displaces oxygen, which is required for gas-powered cars to function. The dense fog settled on the ground where its devastating potential was barely avoided because CO2 is heavier than air and did not dissipate.
The national government and the fossil fuel industry’s new carbon capture plans, which aim to capture greenhouse gas and transport it to underwater storage, include carbon dioxide pipelines as a crucial component. There are a few carbon capture projects in Canada that are already in place or are being considered, but the Pathways Alliance’s proposed plan is by far the biggest. At least$ 16.5 billion is being spent on the construction of a massive carbon pipeline that will run nearly 250 miles from the oil sands in northern Alberta to ostensibly 186 miles east of Edmonton in the Cold Lake region.
The Pathways Alliance, which is made up of Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy and ConocoPhillips, claims that its carbon capture plans can assist Canada in achieving its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.” High-pressure state” refers to the fact that carbon dioxide” comes rushing out in this great blast” if and when pipeline failures occur. Industry observers assert that, as a worldwide effort to phase out fossil fuels intensifies, the plan actually focuses on finding ways to remain in business.
Experts say more attention needs to be paid to the safety risks associated with carbon dioxide management as nations like Canada plan a serious expansion of CO2 pipelines to help deal with rising oil and gas sector emissions. Even though crises like the one in Mississippi and others— like the CO2 leak that forced students to leave a Wyoming school or the massive carbon dioxide cloud that killed more than 1,700 people in the Lake Nyos disaster in Cameroon — are uncommon, they still highlight the dangers to concentrated CO2.
According to University College London, there are no specific regulations governing CO2 pipelines in Canada at either the federal or provincial levels. The Canada Energy Regulator does regulate CO2 pipelines that cross provincial or international borders using oil and gas pipeline safety standards known as CSA Z662, Natural Resources Canada informed Canada’s National Observer, despite the fact that there are no distinct CO2-related regulations. The department added that Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan all have similar regulations regarding CO2 pipelines within provinces.
Safety is a major priority for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam, whose territory would be impacted by the Pathways Alliance project. As it has come to light that the Alberta Energy Regulator and Imperial Oil were aware of a tailings leak at the company’s Kearl site but failed to warn the country of the risk, trust in the statewide regulator and the oil and gas industry has been destroyed this year.
They claimed that it had lasted for nine months. According to the new report, the Alberta Energy Regulator and Imperial were aware of this leak for a long time. ” Everything’s coming out right now.”
He claimed that because of the health risks, the nation’s leadership wanted to distance themselves from the carbon capture megaproject when Pathways Alliance approached the country he represents. We’re going to cook Mother Earth from the inside out, he declared, adding that there is no benefit to anyone.
Jane Patton, the campaign manager for the Centre for International Environmental Law, stated that Canada’s National Observer safety concerns over CO2 pipelines are a serious problem that is no well-known. Given that tens of thousands of miles for of CO2 pipelines are planned to be built in Canada and the United States, where she is based, as carbon capture becomes more important to the governments’ greenhouse gas emission-cutting strategies, this lack of information is particularly concerning.
She explained that by putting CO2 under great pressure, it is changed from a gas to liquid in order to transport it. ” If and when the pipeline fails, it all comes rushing out in this wonderful blast because the CO2 running through it is kept in that very high-pressure state.”
She continued,” People in the area could be quickly inundated with CO2, so even small fissures or cracks can have severe effects.” ” Surprisingly, they are deprived of oxygen, which results in serious respiratory distress.” It can result in things like mouth foaming, seizures-like symptoms, fear and trauma, and long-lasting natural effects.
First responders are unable to respond to calls for assistance because their engines figuratively don’t function, she claimed. The worst part of all of this is that people don’t understand why they immediately find it difficult to breathe.
We must phase out and eliminate all fossil fuel use, according to climate science, which is making an effort to create an exception. The climate science is evident that all fossil fuels must be phased out in order to prevent pushing the atmosphere beyond the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding warming to 1.5 C, according to adjunct professor Jason MacLean of the University of Saskatchewan.
Many nations gathered around a call to phase out” unabated” fossil fuels during the international climate change negotiations last year. Although agreement was not reached, MacLean clarified that the goal of using the term” unabated” is to create exceptions that allow for continued growth of fossil fuels using abatement technologies, such as carbon capture.
We have to phase out and eliminate all fossil fuel use, according to climate science, which states firmly that nations like Canada are” attempting to carve out an exception to this rule.” There can be no more production of natural gas, coal, or oil, he claimed.
Despite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change labeling carbon capture technology as the priciest and least encouraging method of lowering emissions, Ottawa places a high priority on it. For businesses looking to construct CO2 pipelines, the national government has unveiled a number of financial incentives. In order to increase the commercial viability of carbon management technologies( including capture and transportation ), Ottawa pledged$ 319 million over the course of seven years two years ago. This year, it also announced a$ 2.6 billion carbon capture, utilization, and storage tax credit.
Natural Resources Canada even unveiled its carbon management strategy in late September, outlining how the federal government plans to create a multibillion dollar sector for the management of carbon emissions. According to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in a statement, carbon management technologies are crucial to how Canada can decarbonize its big industries and make sure they can compete and succeed in the world race to net zero by 2050.
The strategy involved roughly 1,500 stakeholders and more than a year of consultations, and it” may be an important signal to encourage private sector investment ,” according to the memo prepared for Wilkinson by Canada’s National Observer after receiving it from the federal access-to-information request.
Additionally, according to the memo, Canada has the chance to demonstrate its” leadership in the lead up to COP28 ,” the United Nations’ annual climate conference held later this year in Dubai.
To justify the continued use of fossil fuels, MacLean views carbon management as a great euphemism” designed to shift the focus off carbon capture and sequestration, which” has been thus vehemently criticized in the educational, medical, and independent literature.
In fact, more than 400 academics warned the American government last year that funding the carbon capture plans for the oil and gas sector with public funds would prevent the use of fossil fuels for decades to come, undermining the nation’s global pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
According to a new study from Oil Change International, Canada will overtake the United States as the second-largest fossil fuel expander by 2050. On its own, Canada’s planned expansion of fossil fuels accounts for 10 % of global expansion plans, producing the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as 117 coal plants operating for decades.
Highlighting Canada’s carbon capture strategy, which is being used to justify additional planet-scarching fossil fuel production at COP28, is unlikely to go over well in light of the country ‘ planned expansion of carbon fuels.
According to MacLean, the notion of Canada as the region’s leader is absurd. Its track record going back to 1990 speaks for itself.
Nobody outside of Canada who is knowledgeable about climate policy views the country as anything other than a laggard. As part of the Climate Desk collaboration, this article, which was first published by Canada’s National Observer, is reproduced below. A much more than three years earlier, a dangerous fog began to creep into the valley that surrounded the tiny village of Satartia, Missisippi, poisoning everyone in its path. Residents choked and fell to the ground within minutes of breathing the air. Almost
This story was originally published in Canada’s National Observer, and is reproduced as part of Climate Desk’s collaboration. In a little over three year ago, a menacing mist crept into the valley around the small village of Satartia in Mississippi causing mass poisoning. Residents choking and falling to the ground within minutes of breathing in the air. Nearly
Boundary Dam Power Station in Estevan, CA is the location of the world’s first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage operation.Michael Bell/AP. This story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.. A little over three years ago, a menacing fog crept into the valley surrounding the small village of Satartia, Missisippi, causing a mass poisoning. Within minutes of breathing the air, residents choked and dropped to the ground. Nearly 50 people were hospitalized.. First responders didn’t know the calamity was caused by a carbon dioxide pipeline failing, but clues were there as they struggled to get to the scene. Gas-powered vehicles couldn’t move, and some people lay in the streets struggling to breathe. Jack Willingham, the emergency director for the town’s county, told NPR, “It looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse.” And he told HuffPost that despite the disaster, the village was in fact lucky because if the wind had blown differently or the incident had happened when people were sleeping, there would have been deaths.. The havoc that day was caused by a rupture in a carbon dioxide pipeline that shot a massive white cloud of concentrated CO2 into the air in a dangerous rolling fog. Because CO2 displaces oxygen and oxygen is needed for gas-powered cars to work, vehicles wouldn’t run. Because CO2 is heavier than air, the thick fog didn’t dissipate but settled on the ground where its lethal potential was narrowly avoided.. Carbon dioxide pipelines are a key part of the federal government and fossil fuel industry’s emerging carbon capture plans, designed to stop the greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere by capturing it and transporting it to underground storage. In Canada, there are a handful of carbon capture projects in operation or being planned, but the largest by far is the proposed plan of the Pathways Alliance. It is seeking to build a massive carbon pipeline stretching almost 250 miles from the oil sands in northern Alberta to a storage hub in the Cold Lake region (about 186 miles east of Edmonton) at a price tag of at least $16.5 billion.. The carbon dioxide is in a “high-pressure state, if and when failures happen in the pipeline, it all comes rushing out in this great blast.”. The Pathways Alliance is composed of Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips, Canadian Natural Resources, and MEG Energy, who say their carbon capture plans can help Canada meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. However, industry watchers say the plan is really about finding a way to stay in business as a global effort to phase out fossil fuels ratchets up.. As countries like Canada plot a dramatic expansion to CO2 pipelines to help deal with rising emissions from the oil and gas sector, experts say more attention must be paid to the safety risks that come with carbon dioxide management. Crises like what happened in Mississippi, and other incidents, like a CO2 leak at a Wyoming school that forced students to evacuate, or the Lake Nyos disaster in Cameroon that saw more than 1,700 people killed by a massive carbon dioxide cloud, may be rare, but they point to the safety risks related to concentrated CO2.. In Canada, there are no dedicated regulations guiding CO2 pipelines at either the federal or provincial levels, according to the University College London. However, Natural Resources Canada told Canada’s National Observer that while there are no specific CO2 rules, the Canada Energy Regulator does regulate CO2 pipelines that cross provincial or international borders, using oil and gas pipeline safety standards called CSA Z662. The department also said CO2 pipelines within provinces are similarly regulated in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.. For Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam, whose territory would be affected by the Pathways Alliance project, safety concerns are top of mind. At the same time, trust in the provincial regulator and the oil and gas industry has been decimated this year as revelations have come to light that the Alberta Energy Regulator and Imperial Oil knew of a tailings leak at the company’s Kearl site and failed to communicate the risk to the nation.. “They said it was going on for nine months. Well, the new report says the Alberta Energy Regulator along with Imperial knew of this leak for years,” he said. “Everything’s coming out now.”. He said when Pathways Alliance approached the nation he represents, the nation’s leadership wanted to distance themselves from the carbon capture megaproject because of the health risks. “There’s no benefit to anybody…We’re going to cook Mother Earth from the inside out,” he said.. Centre for International Environmental Law campaign manager Jane Patton told Canada’s National Observer safety concerns over CO2 pipelines are a pressing issue that is not widely understood. That lack of information is especially worrying given that in Canada and the United States, where she’s based, tens of thousands of miles worth of CO2 pipelines are planned to be built as carbon capture becomes more central to the governments’ greenhouse gas emission-cutting strategies.. To transport CO2, it’s transformed from a gas to a liquid by putting it under high pressure, she explained. “Because the [CO2] running through the pipeline is kept in that super high-pressure state, if and when failures happen in the pipeline, it all comes rushing out in this great blast.”. Even small fissures or cracks can result in catastrophic consequences because people in the area could be rapidly inundated with CO2, she added. “They are suddenly deprived of oxygen, which causes severe respiratory distress. It can cause things like foaming at the mouth, it can cause [seizure-like symptoms], it can cause fear and trauma and have long-lasting physical effects.. “And if people are able to call for help, first responders can’t get there…because their engines literally don’t work,” she said. “And the worst part of all this is people have no idea why…they just suddenly can’t breathe.”. “Trying to carve out an exception to what climate science is unequivocally saying: We have to phase out and eliminate all fossil fuel use.”. Beyond the safety risks of the pipelines themselves, University of Saskatchewan adjunct professor Jason MacLean says the climate science is clear that all fossil fuels must be phased out to avoid pushing the atmosphere beyond the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding warming to 1.5 C.. In the international climate change negotiations last year, many countries rallied around a call to phase out “unabated” fossil fuels. Consensus was not reached but MacLean explained that the purpose of using the term “unabated” is to create exceptions that allow for continued growth of fossil fuels using abatement technologies, like carbon capture.. Countries like Canada are “trying to carve out an exception to what climate science is unequivocally saying: We have to phase out and eliminate all fossil fuel use. There can be no more natural gas, coal, or oil production,” he said.. Despite carbon capture technology being branded by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as the most expensive and least promising avenue to reduce emissions, it’s a clear priority for Ottawa. The federal government has unveiled a series of financial incentives for companies looking to build CO2 pipelines. Two years ago, Ottawa pledged $319 million over seven years for research and development to improve the commercial viability of carbon management technologies (including capture and transportation) and this year, announced a carbon capture, utilization and storage tax credit expected to be worth $2.6 billion over the next five years.. In late September, Natural Resources Canada also published its carbon management strategy, which spells out how the federal government intends to build a multibillion-dollar carbon management sector. “Carbon management technologies are an important part of how Canada can decarbonize its heavy industries and ensure they can compete and succeed in the global race to net zero by 2050,” said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in a statement.. According to a memo prepared for Wilkinson that Canada’s National Observer received through a federal access-to-information request, the strategy involved nearly 1,500 stakeholders and more than a year of consultations, and “may be an important signal to encourage private sector investment.”. Moreover, the memo says publishing the carbon capture strategy is an opportunity for Canada to highlight its “leadership in the lead up to COP28”—the United Nations’ annual climate conference later this year in Dubai.. MacLean considers carbon management “a great euphemism” designed to shift the focus off carbon capture and sequestration, which “has been so thoroughly criticized in the academic, scientific and independent literature…to justify the continued use [of fossil fuels].”. In fact, last year, over 400 academics wrote to the Canadian government warning that supporting the oil and gas sector’s carbon capture plans with public money would lock in fossil fuel use for decades to come, thereby undermining the country’s international commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions.. A recent study from Oil Change International found Canada is on track to be the second-largest fossil fuel expander, behind the United States, by 2050. On its own, Canada’s planned fossil fuel expansion represents 10 per cent of the world’s expansion plans, creating the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of 117 coal plants running for decades.. In light of the country’s planned fossil fuel expansion, highlighting Canada’s carbon capture strategy that’s being used to justify further planet-scorching fossil fuel production at COP28 is unlikely to go over well.. “The idea of Canada as a leader in this area is laughable,” MacLean said. “Its record since 1990 speaks for itself.”. “Nobody outside of Canada who knows anything about climate policy sees Canada as anything other than a laggard.”
