Christian Paradis on Business of Supply

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for his question.

I am pleased to report a number of significant developments relating to carbon capture and storage under the Canada-U.S. clean energy dialogue. A joint CCS working group has been established and is in the process of developing a North American carbon capture and storage atlas. This will detail both the major sources of CO₂ emissions and potential CO₂ storage reservoirs. This information will help to ensure that future investments in technology are well targeted.

We continue to reinforce and expand the links among researchers in our two countries. We are working with the U.S. to develop and demonstrate CO₂ measuring, monitoring, and verification methods. This will help to confirm that CO₂ storage is both safe and effective. It will build on the research under way at the successful Weyburn-Midale carbon capture and storage research project in Saskatchewan.

Mindful of the close energy connections between our two countries, we are also working toward developing compatible carbon capture and storage regulations to minimize business barriers and to facilitate possible future cross-border CCS projects.

We have also agreed to hold an annual joint conference on carbon capture and storage to facilitate information sharing on an ongoing basis. In fact, the first conference was held earlier this month in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.