Project Pioneer. Canadian and Albertan perceptions of carbon capture and storage: establishing baselines

In partnership with Shell Canada, TransAlta commissioned a polling firm in the summers of 2010 and 2011 to conduct research amongst Canadians and Albertans regarding their perceptions of carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Both corporate entities, with two separate CCS projects (Shell’s Quest and TransAlta’s Pioneer), felt that with the shortage of established data on the subject of public perceptions on CCS, this initial research would serve to create baselines of perceptions not only at the local level, where the coal-fired plant Keephills 3 and the future carbon capture facility of Pioneer would be located, but also to gauge the broader public acceptance for CCS, and to better understand where people would have questions regarding the technology, so that these could be addressed.

What people told the survey, would form one of a number of pillars that would help determine a public engagement strategy, so the project could ensure they were addressing the right issues that people had raised questions regarding. This initial polling activity in 2010 was designed to establish both an Alberta and a Canada baseline for the purposes of Project Pioneer.

In August 2011 another set of 1600 interviews were conducted to see if the perceptions of Albertans towards CCS has changed.