Canada鈥檚 transition to 鈥渘et zero鈥� greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 includes not only B.C.鈥檚 liquefied natural gas exports, but Newfoundland鈥檚 offshore oil, Alberta鈥檚 oil sands and Ontario鈥檚 nuclear power, federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O鈥橰egan says.
O鈥橰egan kicked off an energy and climate conference in Vancouver Dec. 3 with an upbeat speech on the future of the Canadian oil and gas industry, battered as it is by world market slumps, COVID-19 and a flight of international investment capital from Canada.
A few surprising comments from Natural Resources Minister today. Oil sands, nuclear part of Canada's "net zero" plan
鈥� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)
鈥淐anada cannot reach its climate goals without the oil and gas industry,鈥� O鈥橰egan said by video link from his office in St. John鈥檚, Newfoundland, where the offshore oil industry is at a near standstill and construction of Husky Energy鈥檚 latest offshore platform is being kept alive with federal aid of $41.5 million announced this week.
Key to the net zero goal is B.C.鈥檚 LNG industry, led by the LNG Canada export facilities at Kitimat and the Coastal GasLink pipeline from northeast B.C.鈥檚 shale gas resources. Bryan Cox, CEO of the Canadian LNG Alliance, said LNG Canada鈥檚 plan to be the lowest-emitting producer in the world is getting international attention of investors.
Hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and law firm Bennett Jones, the conference included Anna Stukas of , which has a direct air capture plant at the demonstration stage, pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Stukas said the facility not only creates 鈥渘egative emissions鈥� to balance emitting activities such as oil and gas, the captured CO2 can be converted to lower-emission diesel and jet fuel. This is a way reduce emissions in truck and air transportation, two of the most difficult areas to make progress, she said.
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Doug Slater of FortisBC, the province鈥檚 main private electricity and gas provider, said his company is pursuing innovations such as compressed natural gas for transport trucks, LNG for shipping to replace diesel and bunker fuel, and applications for hydrogen fuel.
Fortis is putting $100 million a year into incentives for household retrofitting and high-efficiency appliances, an approach endorsed by O鈥橰egan.
鈥淚 have become a convert of retrofitting homes and businesses,鈥� he said, estimating that as much as 40 per cent of Canada鈥檚 commitments to the Paris climate agreement in 2016 can come from that strategy.
O鈥橰egan acknowledged that investment has drained away from Canada, after years of international protest targeting Alberta鈥檚 oil sands and B.C.鈥檚 natural gas production. Canada became 鈥渁 box to check鈥� for big companies like Total, Shell and others to demonstrate to shareholders they are doing something about climate change, he said.
