Alberta Law To Cap Oil Sands Emissions

The Alberta government has introduced Bill 25: Oil Sands Emissions Limit Act into the legislature. If enacted, Alberta will have an annual legislated 100 megatonne cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oil sands projects, including mining, in situ and upgrading projects. The government hopes the cap will spur more innovation in emission reduction technology, move Alberta's overall GHG emissions profile downward and strengthen Alberta's environmental credibility nationally and internationally, although many questions remain about when the cap will be reached, how it will actually operate and what its impacts will be on the economy.

Alberta's oil sands GHG emissions were about 66 megatonnes in 2014, the most recent data, which is about 24 percent of Alberta's emissions and 9 percent of Canada's emissions. In 1990, the oil sands industry's emissions were only 15.3 megatonnes. The oil sands have been Canada's fastest-growing source of emissions since 2005.