ENERGY INNOVATION MONTH FEATURE: 7 Ways Alberta Oil & Gas Producers can Earn Carbon Credit Revenue

Print 🖨

Businesses of all sizes across different industries face increased pressure to be more sustainable. While sustainability looks different for every business, reducing corporate emissions is always beneficial.

It’s no longer the case that green strategies come at the expense of corporate goals and profits. Today, we’re seeing businesses lean into emission reductions and sustainable strategies to meet their goals and generate revenue. Businesses can cut costs by being more energy-efficient. More people want to work with and for you. There are even new pathways to generate carbon credits to earn extra revenue by adopting practices that reduce emissions.

For the energy industry in Alberta, there are numerous ways upstream oil and gas producers can earn carbon credits by adopting clean technologies and implementing specific emission reduction projects.

Before digging into what exactly these credit generation opportunities are, let’s talk about what a carbon credit is.

A carbon credit (aka carbon offset) is a tradable instrument representing a one-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) below a baseline from projects that achieve – and prove – a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carbon credits are often created through agricultural or forestry practices. However, they can be made by nearly any project that reduces or avoids emissions, including in the energy sector. Companies like Radicle work with businesses to identify these emission reduction opportunities and generate carbon credits.

Below is a breakdown of the ways oil and gas companies in Alberta can currently generate carbon credits.

Converting high-bleed pneumatic devices to low-bleed pneumatic devices
Converting pneumatic devices from instrument gas to instrument air systems
Replacing gas-driven pneumatic devices with electric devices such as electric control instruments, or solar-powered electric chemical injection pumps (electrification)
Carbon Capture and Storage (or Utilization and Storage) – Capturing CO₂ emissions and transferring them to permanent storage in deep saline aquifers, or in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) schemes
Gas Conservation – Conservation of previously vented gas for use as fuel gas, recovery and reinjection, or power/heat generation
Vent Gas Combustion – Capture of vented emissions, re-routed to high-efficiency combustors or existing flares
Renewable electricity – This includes solar, wind, geothermal, and waste heat recovery. These expand beyond just the oil and gas sector or other commercial facilities; even residential homeowners can get involved in some of these programs.

While this list outlines the current opportunities available to the Alberta oil and gas industry, there are new credit generation avenues actively being worked on that will be available in the future.

If you’d like to learn whether your company’s current or future projects could be eligible to generate carbon credits under one of these existing or potential pathways, or if you’d like to discuss other emission reduction opportunities, visit radiclebalance.com/oil-and-gas