Electric vehicle charging network
Through our Petro-Canada™ brand, we completed construction in 2019 of Canada’s Electric Highway™, a coast-to-coast electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging network spanning more than 50 Petro-CanadaTM stations. These sites are positioned no further than 250 kilometres apart and provide universal charging options to a variety of electric vehicles.
We invested in level three direct current fast chargers, a step change technology that is built beyond the needs of today’s EV technology and positioned for the future of EV charging in Canada. This exciting initiative supports customers wanting to reduce their carbon footprint with choices for their energy needs and enables us to learn more about this emerging market as we continue to evaluate options and respond to evolving customer needs.
Renewable Liquid Fuels
Since 2006, Suncor has been making a significant impact in Canada’s emerging renewable liquid fuels industry. Our ethanol plant in St. Clair Ont. provides the ethanol that we blend into our gasoline and we continue to research lower-carbon intensity ethanol.
We are also advancing an active portfolio of projects with universities and companies aimed at developing pathways to produce advanced renewable liquid fuels from waste, forestry and agricultural excess biomass, and refinery gases. These fuels have the potential to significantly reduce GHG emissions. Examples of our actions in this area include:
- participating in the Alberta-Based Biorefinery (AB-Bio) project with Alberta Innovates to de-risk sustainable Alberta-based feedstocks to produce low-carbon fuels
- increasing renewable fuel options for our diesel and gasoline blending
- investing in companies advancing clean and renewable fuel production capacity
LanzaTech
LanzaTech’s carbon recycling platform uses novel gas fermentation technology to capture CO-rich gases and convert the carbon to fuels and chemicals. For over 10 years, Suncor has partnered with LanzaTech to support the development of their patented technology portfolio for potential deployment within our existing operations as well as next-generation biofuel plants.
LanzaJet Inc.
LanzaJet will produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from ethanol derived from a variety of sustainable sources, including wastes and residues. Suncor is a founding investor alongside Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and LanzaTech Inc., along with Shell and British Airways (International Airlines Group) who formalized their investments in 2021. These investments will help build LanzaJet’s first SAF-producing plant Freedom Pines Fuels in Soperton, Georgia, U.S. in 2022 and establish LanzaJet as a global leader in renewable fuels production.
Enerkem
Enerkem is a waste-to-renewable fuels and chemicals technology developer and producer. In addition to direct investments, Suncor has employees seconded to Enerkem projects to provide operational support and increase operational discipline based on Suncor’s extensive experience. In 2020, Enerkem, Suncor and other partners announced construction plans for the Varennes Carbon Recycling facility in Quebec that will convert non-recyclable residual materials, as well as wood waste, into renewable fuels and renewable chemicals.
Low-GHG intensity ethanol (Alpine+)
Working with Alberta-based forestry organizations, Emissions Reductions Alberta, Alberta Innovates, the Government of Canada and LanzaTech, we are advancing pilot production of ethanol. The pilot project converts woody biomass into renewable ethanol through the gasification of the biomass into syngas and the fermentation of the syngas into ethanol. By leading this initiative in a regional context, we could create a new value chain that would support the commercial development of advanced biofuels across Canada.
Wind power
Wind power is one of the fastest growing sources of electricity generation in the world. It is efficient, emissions-free and renewable. Investment in wind power is a key component of Suncor's climate change action plan.
Suncor and our partners are involved in four operational wind power facilities. These wind power facilities have a generating capacity of over 100 megawatts (MW).
In addition to our current partnerships in wind power, in 2019, we sanctioned phase one (200 MW) of the Forty Mile Wind Power Project in Alberta. We continue to evaluate renewable energy investments that deliver economic, environmental and social benefits.