Alberta
Alberta piloting test to supply industry with fuel derived from worn-out tires
Turning industrial waste into energy |
Alberta is launching a Tire-Derived Fuel pilot to test the effectiveness of turning old, worn-out tires into energy to power industrial facilities.
Alberta’s government is helping industry reduce emissions, save money and turn landfill waste into energy – all through technology.
Around the world, demand for industrial and manufacturing products is rising rapidly. Companies are looking for more ways to repurpose waste, decrease costs and increase operational efficiency while reducing emissions, but these improvements can be expensive and complex.
Alberta’s government and industry are stepping up and setting an example for the world, investing in two new programs to help more industrial and manufacturing companies reduce emissions, re-use waste and keep powering the world. In partnership with Lafarge Canada, the province will launch a program to expand the use of recycled spare tires and will invest $10 million in a second program to help industry save on their energy bills.
“We are investing in lower-emission fuels and facility upgrades to set our energy sector up for continued success. These new initiatives will keep our province at the forefront of technological advancement and ensure Alberta continues to lead the way to reduce emissions and turn waste into energy.”
New Tire-Derived Fuel Pilot Project
Alberta is launching a Tire-Derived Fuel pilot to test the effectiveness of turning old, worn-out tires into energy to power industrial facilities. Led by the Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA), the pilot will turn up to 1.5 million used tires into up to 15,750 tonnes of chips that will become tire-derived fuel in the coming months.
Lafarge Canada’s new Low-Carbon Fuel Facility will participate in the pilot project. They have the equipment needed to burn waste-derived fuels, reducing their use of natural gas. Results from the pilot will be used to help determine whether tire-derived fuel should be permanently added to the province’s existing Tire Recycling Program.
New Strategic Energy Management for Industry Program
Alberta’s government is also investing $10 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund to help launch the new Strategic Energy Management for Industry program, open for applications on Oct. 17.
Delivered through Emissions Reduction Alberta, the program will cover the cost of energy assessments and capital retrofits to save Alberta-based industrial and manufacturing facilities money on their energy bills. It will also provide energy management training, knowledge sharing and technical support.
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, mining, oil and gas, and cement companies will all be eligible for funding. Additional funding will also be provided by the Government of Canada and announced soon. More information will be shared on Emissions Reduction Alberta’s website.
New Low-Carbon Fuel Facility
Thanks in part to $10 million in TIER funding delivered through Emissions Reduction Alberta, Lafarge Canada has opened a cutting-edge Low-Carbon Fuel Facility that will replace up to 50 per cent of the natural gas it uses with low-carbon fuel from construction demolition waste. This will keep up to 120,000 tonnes of construction and demolition materials out of landfills and produce up to 30,000 fewer tonnes of emissions.
“The Tire-Derived Fuel Pilot program is another step in resource recovery. We appreciate the support from the Government of Alberta and industry partners like Lafarge Canada, enabling us to explore innovative recycling technologies to assess its viability. This pilot initiative not only addresses near-term tire stockpile reduction needs from our Tire Recycling Program, but also brings the potential to further boost economic opportunities across the province.”
“Improving the efficiency of industrial and manufacturing processes and facilities is the quickest, most cost-effective way to lower energy bills and stay competitive. But it takes knowledge, expertise, training and capital. With SEMI, Alberta companies will soon have even more opportunity to invest in energy and cost-saving technologies.”
“We’re pleased to see the Government of Alberta’s continued commitment to technology and innovation funding, which plays a crucial role in driving innovation and sustainability across all industries. Lafarge Canada has directly benefited from past support, helping us advance our low-carbon solutions. These funding opportunities empower us to accelerate our efforts to reduce emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future for Alberta.”
Quick facts
- Albertans have recycled more than 149.5 million tires and diverted hundreds of thousands of tonnes of tires from landfills since 1992 through ARMA’s existing Tire Recycling Program.
- Scrap tires are currently processed under ARMA’s Tire Recycling Program and turned into drainage material in municipal landfills, playground surfaces, sidewalk blocks, roofing tiles and landscaping mulch, but with markets for recycled tire products declining, alternative outlets are needed to avoid tire stockpiles.
- To date, Emissions Reduction Alberta has invested $960 million from the industrial carbon price toward more than 290 projects worth over $8.6 billion, estimated to reduce 40 million tonnes of emissions by 2030.
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From the Canadian Energy Centre
Q&A with Mike Verney, executive vice-president, McDaniel & Associates
New analysis commissioned by the Alberta Energy Regulator has increased the province’s natural gas reserves by 440 per cent, bumping Canada into the global top 10.
Alberta’s oil reserves – already fourth in the world – also increased by seven billion barrels.
The report was conducted by Calgary-based consultancy McDaniel & Associates. Executive vice-president Mike Verney explains what it means.
CEC: What are “reserves” and why do they matter?
Verney: Reserves are commercial quantities of oil and gas to be recovered in the future. They are key indicators of future production potential.
For companies, that’s a way of representing the future value of their operations. And for countries, it’s important to showcase the runway they have in terms of the future of their oil and gas.
Some countries that have exploited a lot of their resource in the past have low reserves remaining. Canada is in a position where we still have a lot of meat on the bone in terms of those remaining quantities.
CEC: How long has it been since Alberta’s oil and gas reserves were comprehensively assessed?
Verney: Our understanding is the last fully comprehensive review was over a decade ago.
CEC: Does improvement in technology and innovation increase reserves?
Verney: Technological advancements and innovation play a crucial role in increasing reserves. New technologies such as advanced drilling techniques (e.g., hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling), enhanced seismic imaging and improved extraction methods enable companies to discover and access previously inaccessible reserves.
As these reserves get developed, the evolution of technology helps companies develop them better and better every year.
CEC: Why have Alberta’s natural gas reserves increased?
Verney: Most importantly, hydraulic fracturing has unlocked material volume, and that’s one of the principal reasons why the new gas estimate is so much higher than what it was in the past.
The performance of the wells that are being drilled has also gotten better since the last comprehensive study.
The Montney competes with every American tight oil and gas play, so we’re recognizing the future potential of that with the gas reserves that are being assigned.
In addition, operators continue to expand the footprint of the Alberta Deep Basin.
CEC: Why have Alberta’s oil reserves increased?
Verney: We discovered over two billion barrels of oil reserves associated with multilateral wells, which is a new technology. In a multilateral well, you drill one vertical well to get to the zone and then once you hit the zone you drill multiple legs off of that one vertical spot. It has been a very positive game-changer.
Performance in the oil sands since the last comprehensive update has also gone better than expected. We’ve got 22 thermal oil sands projects that are operating, and in general, expectations in terms of recovery are higher than they were a decade ago.
Oil sands production has grown substantially in the past decade, up 70 per cent, from two million to 3.4 million barrels per day. The growth of several projects has increased confidence in the commercial viability of developing additional lands.
CEC: What are the implications of Alberta’s reserves in terms of the province’s position as a world energy supplier?
Verney: We’re seeing LNG take off in the United States, and we’re seeing lots of demand from data centers. Our estimate is that North America will need at least 30 billion cubic feet per day of more gas supply in the next few years, based on everything that’s been announced. That is a very material number, considering the United States’ total natural gas production is a little over 100 billion cubic feet per day.
In terms of oil, since the shale revolution in 2008 there’s been massive growth from North America, and the rest of the world hasn’t grown oil production. We’re now seeing that the tight plays in the U.S. aren’t infinite and are showing signs of plateauing.
Specifically, when we look at the United States’ largest oil play, the Permian, it has essentially been flat at 5.5 million barrels per day since December 2023. Flat production from the Permian is contrary to the previous decade, where we saw tight oil production grow by half a million barrels per day per year.
Oil demand has gone up by about a million barrels a day per year for the past several decades, and at this point we do expect that to continue, at the very least in the near term.
Given the growing demand for oil and the stagnation in supply growth since the shale revolution, it’s expected that Alberta’s oil sands reserves will become increasingly critical. As global oil demand continues to rise, and with limited growth in production from other sources, oil sands reserves will be relied upon more heavily.
A new report finds every Albertan will have $3,300 less for essentials if the ineffective federal emissions reduction plan is left in place.
For years, the federal government has been targeting net zero by 2050 and putting in place an aggressive approach to reduce emissions as outlined in its Emissions Reduction Plan. This scheme, which included the carbon tax, emissions cap, electricity regulations and other initiatives, has drawn strong criticism from provinces, industry, business groups and Canadians.
A report by the Conference Board of Canada, commissioned by Alberta’s government, sheds new light on the negative impacts of the federal government’s punitive environmental approach. By 2050, Alberta’s GDP will shrink by 11 per cent, employment will decline by four per cent and the average person will have $3,300 less in disposable income – while Canada still misses its emissions target.
Alberta’s government is calling on the next federal government to permanently abandon the carbon tax, emissions cap and the entire flawed federal approach. Instead, the federal government should focus on reducing emissions without hurting the economy or making life harder for Albertan and Canadian families.
“These findings should send a message to whoever ends up being the next federal government. Our province remains firmly committed to protecting the environment and creating a future for our children, but that can’t be achieved by trampling on Canadians’ livelihoods. Ottawa has offered nothing but penalties and vague rhetoric. Instead of meaningful incentives to reduce emissions, we get carbon taxes, a production cap, and layers and layers of costly regulations, all burdening families and workers who are already stretched thin.”
The Conference Board of Canada assessed how Alberta businesses and consumers will react to the federal policies based on the costs and effectiveness of the technologies necessary to meet the federal targets.
It found that Alberta will be disproportionately impacted by the current federal plan, experiencing a deep recession in 2030 and subsequently slower economic growth going forward. According to the report, compared to the 2050 baseline scenario, Alberta’s GDP, jobs, revenue and incomes will significantly decline because of federal emissions policies:
- GDP: Projected to be 11 per cent lower
- Employment: Projected to be 4.1 per cent lower
- Government revenues: Projected to be 9.3 per cent lower
- Real (price adjusted) incomes: Down $3,300 (or 7.3 per cent) per person
Nationally, real GDP in Canada is estimated to fall 3.8 per cent in 2050. Canadian oil and gas production in 2050 would be 37 per cent lower, mostly due to the proposed federal oil and gas production cap.
On March 12, the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) – following on reports from S&P Global, Deloitte Canada and the Conference Board of Canada – released a scathing report outlining the negative impacts of the proposed federal oil and gas emissions cap. According to the report, the PBO estimates that the federal government’s cap alone will in fact slash oil and gas production by almost 5 per cent, all while these required production cuts reduce nominal GDP by $20.5 billion in 2032.
The PBO report also suggests this policy will reduce economy-wide employment in Canada by 40,300 jobs and full-time equivalents by 54,400 in 2032.
Alberta’s government continues to call for the next federal government to focus on policies that grow the economy, while working with provinces and respecting the Canadian constitution.
Quick facts:
- The Conference Board of Canada scenarios assume oil and gas production grow to 9.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2050 with peak oil production of 9.9 million barrels per day in 2042, reflecting continued global oil demand.
- Canada’s employment is estimated to be 2.6 per cent lower, consumer prices 2.5 per cent higher, and real GDP 3.8 per cent lower in 2050 under the federal plan (compared to the baseline scenario).
- According to the report, Canada’s electricity sector would need to reduce emissions by 376 per cent below baseline in 2050, through significant investment in carbon capture and storage, to meet the federal net-zero commitment.
- The Conference Board of Canada’s realistic scenario assumes carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be deployed at a slower rate than is generally assumed by the federal government.
- Canada’s Emission Reduction Plan, released in March 2022, is a roadmap and its policies include the carbon tax, Clean Electricity Regulation, Clean Fuel Regulation, federal oil and gas emissions cap, methane reduction targets, zero emission vehicle mandates, and various other subsidy programs.
- The Conference Board of Canada’s report on assessing the impact of the federal Emissions Reduction Plan was completed prior to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and does not include the impacts of potential U.S. tariffs.
- U.S. tariffs have further illustrated the importance of market access to Canada’s energy security.
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