American congressional delegation visiting Sask carbon capture facility

A U.S.presidential hopeful is in Saskatchewan Wednesday to tour the carbon capture and storage power plant at the Boundary Dam by Estevan.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham will meet up with Premier Brad Wall for the tour. Also in the congressional delegation will be Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and South Carolina congressman Tom Rice.

“We think this is a technology the world’s interested in. We’ve seen continued interest in it. This is the latest evidence of that,” said Wall.

First launched last fall, the $1.4 billion facility burns coal and captures 90 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions, which is then stored several kilometres underground. That’s like taking 250,000 vehicles off the road. Wall said because the stored CO2 has a purity of 99 per cent, it can then be marketed to energy companies to enhance oil recovery.