Canada has announced a significant investment of more than $11 million to advance innovative, homegrown carbon utilization and storage technologies. The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, confirmed that the funding will support four projects under the Energy Innovation Program’s Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Call. These initiatives aim to enhance the safety and efficiency of carbon storage while driving innovation in carbon utilization to reduce emissions, energy use, and costs in key industrial sectors.
Memorial University of Newfoundland will receive nearly $5 million to evaluate carbon storage potential in Atlantic Canada. The project will analyze storage capacity, containment risks, and long-term CO₂ behavior while engaging communities through education and stakeholder planning. Similarly, the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Quebec will use almost $5 million to prepare for a pilot project on geological CO₂ storage in the Lower Saint Lawrence Lowlands. This initiative will employ advanced digital modeling and 3D seismic data to improve understanding of carbon storage potential and inform future regulatory frameworks.
In Alberta, Canadian Discovery Ltd. will receive $960,000 to create a Geological Carbon Storage Atlas for Eastern Canada. The study will identify opportunities for CO₂ storage in saline aquifers and depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs across Quebec and Atlantic Canada, helping position Canada as a leader in publicly accessible regional carbon storage data. Meanwhile, Université Laval will be granted over $480,000 to develop a dual-purpose process that uses carbon mineralization to both capture CO₂ and recover critical metals like nickel and cobalt used in battery production. The process will be tested in an operational environment to explore scalable solutions for permanent CO₂ storage and resource recovery.
