Environmental Policy & Economics Speaker Series with André Plourde

CARBON TAXES AND FINANCIAL
INCENTIVES FOR GHG EMISSIONS
REDUCTIONS IN ALBERTA’S OIL SANDS

Thursday, February 28, 2013 – 3:30 to 5:00 pm
River Building 5208, Carleton University
RSVP: www.ie.uottawa.ca/speakerseries

It is widely considered that the continued development and production of Alberta’s oil sands deposits is on track to be the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada over the next few decades. As recent developments suggest, failure to address the issue of GHG emissions growth might jeopardize the potential for sustained expansion of oil sands operations in Alberta. With this in mind, a computer simulation model of a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oil sands production facility is used to investigate the financial incentives provided by the introduction of a per-unit levy on CO2 emissions – a carbon tax – to SAGD producers to reduce production-related GHG emissions. Results are obtained for a range of carbon tax rates and crude oil prices. Special attention is paid to the interactions between the carbon tax and the provisions of the royalty and tax regime applicable to oil sands development and production activities in Alberta.

Biography of Speaker:

André Plourde is the Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs and a Professor in the Department of Economics at Carleton University. He joined Carleton in July 2011 after more than a decade at the University of Alberta. Dean Plourde has also held academic positions at the University of Toronto and University of Ottawa, and government posts in Natural Resources Canada and the Department of Finance. He has served on numerous advisory committees, including the Province of Alberta’s Royalty Review Panel and the Royal Society of Canada’s expert panel on the environmental and health impacts of Canada’s oil sands industry. His research interests have centered mainly on energy economics and on Canadian energy and environmental policy issues.

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