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Image by Mark Koch

A Great Environmental Story

Environmental

“Rich gas”, which contains methane, ethane, propane, butane and condensate, is provided to Westcoast Pipeline consumers. When this rich gas is used to heat homes,  the components are burned and wasted, resulting in high amounts of atmospheric emissions.  

Fog and Nature

A Great GREENHOUSE GAS STORY

  • The burning of lean gas produced by West Coast Olefins Ltd. (WCOL) in place of rich gas (gas which contains ethane, propane, butane, and condensate) will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 0.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year (Mt/y). The NGL Recovery Project only emits 0.16 Mt/y of CO2, making the project carbon negative and supporting the BC Climate Action Plan.​​

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  • Proposed use of “green” hydroelectricity to provide power to compressors within the NGL Extraction Plant, thereby reducing the GHG emissions (relative to traditional use of a gas turbine driver), resulting in the negative CO2 emissions from the project.

Air Quality-01.png

PARTICULATE MATTER & ODOUR

  • The NGL Recovery Project will produce essentially no particulate emissions as we do not have solid products.   

  • The NGL Recovery Project uses electric motors for all its major compressors (rather than gas turbines), and needs only a small amount of lean natural gas, resulting in essentially no particulate matter and no associated odour.

  •  The NGL Recovery Project will be designed with vapour recovery systems and fugitive emission monitoring systems to minimize fugitive emissions and odours.

BENZENE EMISSIONS

IN CANADA

(Environment, 2001)
Environment, C. C. (2001). Companion Document- Part 1: Initial Set of Actions for Canada-Wide Standard For Benzene Phase 1. 

Sometimes Perception is Different than the Facts

  • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are those organic emissions that will vaporize at atmospheric conditions. The NGL Recovery Project will be designed to minimize VOC emissions through a number of design features. 
       

  • Benzene:  The diagram featured to the left illustrates the relative benzene emissions from major industries and activities in Canada in 2010. Over 40% of benzene emissions in Canada are a result of forest fires, with the next highest contributors being transportation and residential wood (such as burning wood or wood pellets). The chemical industry contributes less than 1% to the annual benzene emissions in Canada. More importantly, there is no benzene present in Natural Gas Liquids and there will be no benzene emissions associated with the NGL Recovery Project.

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