Overview of Alberta s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program

Transcription

1 Overview of Alberta s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program Kate Rich Executive Director, Air and Climate Change Policy Branch Alberta Environment and Parks World Bank Partnership for Market Readiness May 29, 2015

2 Alberta 2

3 Alberta s Climate Change Strategy Targets

4 Alberta s GHG Emission Profile Total 267 Mt CO 2 e Per capita total 67 t CO 2 e Per capita non-industrial 15 t CO 2 e Bulk of emissions from industrial activity oil and gas mineral, chemical and fertilizer manufacturing electricity generation World >43,000 Mt Canada 726 Mt Alberta 267 Mt Residential / Commercial 6% Manuf. / Construction 5% Industrial 5% Agriculture Waste 7% 1% Transport 16% 2013 GHG Emissions 267 Mt CO2 eq Total Electricity / Heat Generation 17% Oil and Gas and Mining Oil Sands 21% (Mining, In Situ and Upgrading)* 22% *Oil Sands emissions total is obtained from the Alberta GHG Reporting Program. All other data and total emissions is from National Inventory Report.

5 Emissions Intensity (t /unit production) Regulatory Approach to Manage Emissions Climate Change and Emissions Management Act (2003) Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (2007) regulating large industry (> 100,000 t CO 2 e per year) existing facilities required to immediately reduce per unit GHG output by 12% new facilities ramped up at 2% per year until they hit the 12% requirement Current Emissions Intensity Baseline Period (3 year Avg. of CO2e per unit of production) Emissions Intensity Limit = 12% Reduction off baseline intensity Target Example

6 Regulatory Approach to Manage Emissions Compliance Flexibility Internal Abatement Reduce emissions at facility. Use of Emission Performance Credits Credits created in the regulated system by facilities that achieve better than target performance. Purchase of Emission Offsets For reduction activity not otherwise required by law. Must be taken in Alberta. Occurred or after January 1, 2002 (now transitioned to go forward crediting in 2012) and third party verified. Payment to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund $15/tonne into a dedicated fund.

7 Value of Compliance Flexibility Accessible with Carbon Price Longer Term Technology Investment Strong Offset Opportunity For illustrative purposes only. Source: EnergyLiteracy.com

8 Regulatory Compliance Results Mt of emissions avoided (from BAU) $578 million paid into the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund Compliance Cycle Total Avoided Emissions At Facility Reductions with Cogen Offset Credits Fund Payment 2007 (half year) 2.88 Mt 0.88 Mt $41.3 Million Mt 2.68 Mt $85.4 Million Mt 3.74 Mt $61.3 Million Mt 3.85 Mt $67.4 Million Mt 5.40 Mt $55.0 Million Mt 3.20 Mt $87.7 Million Mt 2.04 Mt $98.6 Million Mt 2.55 Mt $83.4 Million Total Mt Mt $577.9 Million

9 Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund Legislation requires dedication of funds reducing emissions or improving Alberta s ability to adapt to climate change Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation established to lead investment in innovation and technology more than $249 million allocated to 100 mitigation and adaptation projects leveraged with other sources of funding to a $1.6 B funds can be (and are being) invested outside Alberta Alberta further investing $1.3B in carbon capture and storage $15 per tonne of CO2 $578 Million in Alberta s technology fund $6:1 Leveraging 10 Mt reduction by 2020

10 Alberta Carbon Offset System Primarily Alberta-based credits must originate in Alberta to be used for Alberta s regulatory requirements can be sold outside Alberta (but must be retired from system) may be retired in or outside Alberta for voluntary systems Foundation of quantification 32 approved protocols ISO-based verification by third parties guidance on protocol development, project reporting and verification Since Mt of offsets retired 35 Mt registered

11 Considerations for Future Alberta is currently renewing its Climate Change Strategy and regulations. Considerations Provincial learnings and those of other systems Expanding compliance borders Price, stringency, threshold Multiple compliance options provides flexibility - balance near and long term requirements Simplify yet respect complexity of facilities cogeneration, fugitive emissions, phased expansions, etc. historical intensity or product benchmarks Maintaining assurance is key 11

12 Thank You For more information, please visit esrd.alberta.ca/focus/alberta-and-climate-change/default.aspx Contact: Kate Rich Alberta Environment and Parks +1 (780)

13 Mt CO 2 eq Compliance Results CCEMF Payments (Mt) EPCs Submitted Carbon Offsets Submitted Recognition of cogeneration Emissions savings at facility (relative to baseline) EPCs generated (including cogen recognition) Total Avoided Emissions half year

14 Reported Emissions (kt CO2e) Regulatory Threshold 100 kt CO 2 e threshold to require reduction: 111 facilities in 2013 all commercial in situ, mines and upgraders ~50% of gas plants (by gas receipt) electricity generation, chemicals, fertilizers, etc. 50 kt CO 2 e: 40% more facilities 14,000 12,000 3% more of Alberta s total emissions 2011 Facilities Ranked by Total Annual Emissions 10,000 8,000 47% of Reported Emissions 6,000 4,000 2,

15 Regulatory Assurance for Large Emitters Third party verification Required for all compliance reports as well as offset project serializations Department review Department reviews all baselines, compliance reports and offset projects Government re-verification Government contracts for re-verification of baselines, compliance reports and offset projects Approximately 10% are selected annually based on risk factors. Error correction Materiality threshold used to determine retroactive error correction. Offsets revoked under to correct material errors. Compliance amounts are corrected retroactively under material errors up to 3 years.

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21 Alberta Carbon Registries Two aspects to the Alberta Carbon Registry: Emission Performance Credit Registry Alberta Emission Offset Registry A third-party contractor runs the registry Registry run on a cost-recovery basis through user fees Actual credit sales do not occur on registry, but transfer of credits between parties are tracked Alberta does not track price of offset credits sold. 25

22 Putting a Price on Carbon Lessons Learned Multiple compliance options provides flexibility International standards can effectively be applied and adapted to sub-national systems Assurance is key 27

23 Administering Alberta s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program Internal staff: 13 positions focused on regulatory delivery system Facilities: 111 Offset Protocols: 32 Re-verification costs: $0.5 M to $1.1 M per year Constant evolution and continuous improvement 28

24 Cost Management of Offset Systems Alberta s Experience Stakeholder involvement in protocol development Verification and registry costs are shifted to offset project developers Liability shifted to regulated facilities 29