Environmental Risks of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies
Environmental Risks of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies
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beng
Tue, 08/18/2026 – 10:10
Published Date
August 21, 2026
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Posted Date
Tue, 08/18/2026 – 10:11
Headline
Despite Alberta’s commitment to “decarbonizing”, large-scale carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) poses observed risks to the environment
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By: Kenneth P. Green and Julio Mejía
Environmental Risks of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies
- In 2025, the province of Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Canadian government that, in return for a proposed new million-barrel-per-day pipeline to Canada’s west coast, Alberta would capture the carbon-dioxide emissions associated with oil-sand production and sequester (store) it deep underground.
- The greenhouse-gas emissions generated in mining and processing oil sands are to be captured at the point of production, compressed into liquid form, and transported to underground storage sites—a process called Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage or CCUS—where they would, ostensibly, be prevented from contributing to global climate change.
- But CCUS, a well-demonstrated technology used to enhance oil production from depleting oil fields, has undergone only limited testing at scales comparable to what is envisioned for Alberta’s future oil-sand production.
- It is unclear if CCUS can be feasibly scaled: previous pilot programs and early CCUS efforts have a history of failing to achieve targets for emission capture and storage, and were not sustained long-term efforts.
- The environmental impact of CCUS at scales under discussion is also open to question: the literature suggests that CCUS poses several threats, including threats to the human environment, health, safety, and critical economic activities such as agriculture.
- These observed risks include increased seismic activity (earth tremors/quakes); groundwater contamination; surface water contamination (and risks to aquatic life); soil contamination (and risks to soil organisms and plants); and concentrated leakage of carbon dioxide at concentrations hazardous to animal or human health.
- As CCUS has not been implemented at scales comparable to what is planned in Alberta via its proposed “Pathways” CCUS program, caution is advised.
<p><strong><em>Environmental Risks of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Technologies</em></strong> finds that while CCUS technology can enhance oil production from depleting fields, its limited testing at scales comparable to what is envisioned for Alberta’s future oil sand production poses observed risks including increased seismic activity and ground water, surface water, and soil contamination.</p>
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