BHP Billiton puts up $20M for carbon capture research centre in Saskatchewan

REGINA – A multinational petroleum and mining company has invested $20 million to help establish a Saskatchewan-based centre to study carbon capture.

Dean Dalla Valle of BHP Billiton says the research facility in Regina will build impetus for carbon capture projects internationally.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall announced the centre last fall.

He says the technology is important because the world’s fastest- growing countries still rely on coal.

It’s hoped the new centre will attract governments, academia, industry and research organizations to study the technology.

SaskPower’s $1.4-billion Boundary Dam facility integrates carbon capture and storage with a power station.

The government-owned utility has described Boundary Dam as the world’s first complete large-scale carbon capture project.

Carbon capture technology has been criticized for its high cost and for not eliminating carbon emissions from power generation.

(CKRM, The Canadian Press)