EDMONTON — Alberta’s biggest greenhouse gas producers paid the provincial government about $63 million last year to cover failures to meet carbon reduction targets, officials reported Wednesday afternoon.
Payments to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund were down in 2009 compared to
2008 ($82.3 million).
About 100 companies — like oilsands operators, coal-fired power generators, and other industrial producers — are expected to pay into the fund if their carbon emissions are above 100,000 tonnes and they miss targets to reduce greenhouse gases.
Instead of paying into the fund, they can also buy into renewable energy programs.
“These are great numbers,” said Alberta Environment’s Andy Ridge. “We are seeing reductions at facilities, we are seeing reductions in the offset market (so) farmers win. But I think most importantly, there’s numbers to talk about.”
The fund was first introduced in mid-2007, and that year, the province collected $41.8 million from industrial emitters.
In the past, critics have questioned the goal of the fund, which ultimately injects more cash into industry but in the name of developing technology and practices that could reduce carbon emissions.
Opposition politicians have also called for harder, clearer targets for companies to pay into the fund; rather than being charged when their emissions exceed 100,000 tonnes and don’t meet reduction targets, Edmonton Liberal Laurie Blakeman suggested the threshold be lowered to 50,000 tonnes full-stop.
At the moment, Ridge said, there are no firm plans to lower the threshold.
Since 2007, Alberta Environment reports emissions have been reduced by 17.3 million tonnes.
Measurements are backed up, Ridge said, by companies’ own audits, third-party verification, government review and, in some cases, government audits.
In a news release issued Wednesday, Environment Minister Rob Renner touted the “real reductions,” adding the province’s “commitment to clean energy technology development and innovation will play an enormous future role in global emission reductions.”
taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
BY THE NUMBERS
$187 million — How much money has been paid into the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund to date. In the 2009 calendar year, the fund received $62.9 million.
100 — The number of Alberta companies that typically exceed the 100,000-tonne emission threshold; upon meeting this baseline, companies are required to pay into the emissions fund, buy into renewable energy or show other signs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
60-70 — The percentage of companies that cover their over-emissions by paying into the provincial fund.
17.3 million tonnes — The amount of emission reductions the province has reported since mid-2007. Alberta Environment says there was a 7-million tonne reduction in 2009.
