Natural Gas Consumption
SECURE’s Scope 1 emissions are predominately generated by natural gas consumption through combustion of natural gas for Midstream Processing Facilities, accounting for 35% of all Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions in 2021. The largest use of natural gas is to heat our Midstream Processing Facilities and blanket our storage tanks to protect people, equipment and the environment by displacing oxygen required for combustion. When trucks deliver products to our facilities, the natural gas in the tanks is displaced by the fluids received; SECURE diverts the natural gas to our tank vapour gathering system where it is combusted, generating CO2.
CASE STUDY
Design Optimization Achieves Efficiencies at the Drayton Valley Midstream Processing Facility
The Operations team at the Drayton Valley Midstream Processing Facility identified an opportunity for process improvement and associated cost savings. The Drayton Valley Midstream Processing Facility receives large volumes of condensate with only one line to support our customers with offloading this product. As a result, when dry light sweet product needed to be offloaded, it would be offloaded through one of the emulsion lines and end up being mixed with wet oil. This equated to extra volume that would need to be treated, a process which consumes natural gas.
In the fall of 2021, a small amount of capital was invested to have one of the water lines converted into a dry line to ensure products were segregated for appropriate treatment. The result meant dry light sweet crude was segregated to the dry tanks and out of the emulsion tanks, reducing treatment time, freeing up volume in the emulsion tanks and alleviating wait times for customers. As a result of the upgrades, the treater is now running significantly less, which has reduced average monthly natural gas usage at the Drayton Valley Midstream Processing Facility by 8%.
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Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change
By the nature of many services SECURE offers its customers, we are taking action on climate change through the avoidance of GHG generation. Total GHG avoidance for SECURE in 2021 was 128,240 tonnes CO2e through:
- Recycling 197,310 tonnes of scrap metal, which avoided the generation 86,816 tonnes of CO2e
- Recovering 253,983m3 crude oil from waste, which avoided the generation of 31,950 tonnes of CO2e
- Trucks displaced as a result of pipelines, which avoided the generation of 9,474 tonnes of CO2e
Pipeline Connections
Establishing pipeline connections from our Midstream Processing Facilities to our customers operating nearby provides a capital efficient transportation solution that enhances operating netbacks. Additionally, the use of pipelines significantly reduces or eliminates trucking logistics and constraints, reduces CO2 emissions, increases safety by reducing the number of trucks required to transport producers’ product, and reduces repair and maintenance expenses on municipal road infrastructure.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity
For the 2021 reporting year, SECURE calculated Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission intensity for our Midstream Infrastructure, Metal Recycling and Landfills business lines. Results for these business lines are:
- Midstream Infrastructure : 10.1 kg CO2e/m3 of fluid received, down 8% from 2020
- Metals Recycling: 27.3 kg CO2e/tonne of scrap shipped out, down 4% from 2020. Metals recycling is SECURE’s most emission intensive business line
- Landfills: 1.8 kg CO2e/tonne of waste landfilled, down 55% from 2020, attributed to streamlining this business line post-merger
Our 2021 Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission intensity results, in the business lines measured, were lower by approximately 9% in 2021 than in 2020 despite increased activity. This is attributed to ESG education and awareness across the organization and each team finding ways to reduce our GHG emissions to achieve our net-zero goal. SECURE continues to work
on establishing the appropriate basis for measuring intensity metrics for the additional lines of business (Environmental Solutions and Fluid Management) given their variable, project-based nature.
CASE STUDY
Gold Creek Water Disposal Facility Achieves 10% Energy Intensity Reduction
At the Gold Creek disposal facility, an energy intensity reduction project was conducted. Two injection pumps at site ran in parallel, one of which had three times higher energy intensity than the other. With data driven insight, in March 2021, operations began to leverage the more efficient pump resulting in immediate energy intensity savings. In April, the team
observed energy intensity savings of 22% and over the course of the year it averaged a 10% reduction in energy intensity, resulting in over $190,000 in electricity savings.
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Energy Efficiency Projects
SECURE is committed to achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. We are investing in energy efficiency projects today to take actions towards achieving these targets and reducing the energy intensity of our operations.
Voluntary Participation in the Saskatchewan Output-Based Performance System (OBPS)
The government of Saskatchewan developed Output Based Performance Standards (OBPS) to reduce emissions intensity across industrial sectors. The OBPS is a made-in-Saskatchewan industrial emissions pricing system under the Province’s Prairie Resilience climate change plan. Performance standards are set based on the emissions per unit of production.
SECURE’s Kindersley Midstream Processing Facility enrolled in the program in 2021 and is required to reduce emission intensity to meet the aggregate facility benchmark. SECURE is held to a performance standard of 15% emission intensity reduction from the 2021 baseline set for the OBPS program.
Voluntary Participation in the Alberta Technology Innovation Emissions Reduction Regulation (TIER)
SECURE’s Midstream Processing Facility in Alberta enrolled in the TIER program in 2020. After establishing a benchmark based on 2019 performance for the legacy Tervita aggregate facility, SECURE lowered its emission intensity over the required 10% and received its first set of emission performance credits in 2022. Emission intensity improvements resulted from enhanced facility utilization and optimization efforts to reduce natural gas consumption.
Energy Optimization Program
In 2020, SECURE launched an Energy Optimization Program focused on the collection of operational data to optimize our electricity intensive processes. Using data analytics was paramount in identifying opportunities in reducing energy intensity and realizing energy efficiencies across our midstream operations. Through real time analytics, the Business Intelligence team provided actionable insights and best practices for field operations to implement. One outcome of this program was an optimized approach to determine when to increase or decrease equipment usage given market demands to minimize electricity use and intensity.
SECURE has committed resources to an ongoing education and knowledge transfer of best practices for electrical energy efficiency throughout its field operations. The first half of 2021, prior to the merger, saw the benefits of the program’s implementation with an average of 2% energy intensity savings at those facilities implementing the best practice.
As a result of the merger and associated integration activities, the second half of 2021 was focused on investing and deploying technology to the acquired facilities to collect operational data to analyze and prioritize opportunities in the future. Formal education of equipment optimization across the organization began in Q1 2022 and we expect to start seeing meaningful results for the remainder of 2022.
Seasonality Improvements
In 2020, operational changes were implemented at specific facilities to adjust boiler settings based on outside temperatures, reducing natural gas consumption. Educational awareness of this operational best practice continued for the first half
of 2021 and the focus in 2022 is on reducing natural gas consumption and associated emissions.
Facility Utilization and Optimizing Efficiencies
As a result of the merger, ten Midstream Processing Facilities are temporarily suspending operations to maximize efficiencies of the existing facility network. These suspended facilities decrease the electricity demands and natural gas consumption of our network, decreasing emissions intensity. SECURE is expecting to see a greater reduction in electricity and natural gas consumption in 2022 as a result of these facilities temporarily suspending operations.
Fugitive Emissions
As part of the merger, SECURE reviewed and updated its Fugitive Emissions Management program. The review identified missed reporting on fugitive emissions surveys that were completed and inaccuracies in the volume of fugitive emissions reported across a portion of the Midstream Infrastructure operations. All regulatory reporting that was missed has since been submitted and errors identified were corrected. The program will be continually assessed to ensure it is effective and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
