International
Energy experts debate whether B.C.’s LNG leadership is embracing ‘reality’ or a mad dash to a hotter planet
VANCOUVER—As British Columba touts its commitment to lowering carbon emissions, the province is also a leader in liquified natural gas. A new Global Energy Monitor report has called that a contradiction undermining global efforts to stop climate change.
Responding to the report’s conclusions, the regional director of the Pembina Institute in B.C. — a non-profit that supports clean energy — agreed that Canada cannot compromise its future with a so-called mad dash to gas.
“Any country getting off coal is a good thing, but replacing one fossil fuel like coal with another fossil fuel like LNG is not a long-term solution to meeting our carbon reduction goals of the planet,” said Karen Tam Wu. “And that’s the bottom line.”
Of the 18 LNG projects proposed across the country, 13 are in B.C., according to Natural Resources Canada, including a $40-billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat. The federal government just announced a $220-million contribution to the project to help fund energy-efficient gas turbines.
LNG projects in the province have faced resistance from Indigenous groups and environmental activists. The most recent major protest was earlier this year and resulted in a standoff with the RCMP as members of a First Nation attempted to block a Coastal GasLink pipeline path that goes through its traditional territory in the north of the province.
The federal Liberals discouraged the construction of new natural-gas plants last week by issuing regulations to increase the carbon tax on any plants added after 2021. But the government is very supportive of exporting natural gas to Asia.
The coastal province of British Columbia is full of untapped natural gas and has easy access to markets in Asia, explained Tam Wu. That’s why B.C. is at the centre of the conversation about the role of natural gas amid a global transition to renewable energy.
Tam Wu said it’s of the utmost importance that the province — and the country — clarify its future energy needs and goals to better determine a path forward. Otherwise, she said, the natural-gas boom may prove to be a wasteful step to a clean future.
Monday’s report by the Global Energy Monitor — an international non-governmental organization that catalogues fossil-fuel infrastructure — highlighted Canada as one of the biggest players in the international boom for LNG exports. It found that all global projects in development would increase natural-gas supply to 806 million tonnes above current levels — and 35 per cent of those projects are in Canada.
It also says the investments are on a “collision course” with the Paris Climate Change Accord, which calls for a global cut in natural gas of 15 per cent by 2030 to reach the accord’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. If all proposed projects go ahead, that supply would instead triple by 2030.
“One of the reasons why this report says LNG is the new coal is because of the emissions associated with methane from development, extraction and processing of natural gas,” Tam Wu explained.
Natural gas emits roughly half the greenhouse gases of coal when burned and has been lauded as an alternative to producing electricity with lower emissions. The report’s findings contradict that idea: Methane, a main component of LNG, is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and, the report says, is responsible for a quarter of the global warming to date.
LNG Canada has promised to make its Kitimat facility the “world’s cleanest” in terms of greenhouse gas emissions “intensity” to support the province’s CleanBC commitments. However, Tam Wu said it remains to be seen how future developments will be evaluated, measured and deemed to fit within carbon reduction goals.
She said money could be better spent encouraging oil-and-gas companies to move to lower-carbon technologies while transitioning to renewable energy.
The lifespan of an LNG operation ranges from 40 to 60 years, she added, which is more than enough time for China — one of the top countries in the market for Canadian natural gas — to become energy self-sufficient.
But a transition away from fossil fuels will be measured in decades, not years, according to Adam Pankratz, adjunct business economics professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. The shift just isn’t that simple or immediate.
“Fossil fuels are going to be with us for decades,” Pankratz said. “I’m fully in support of moving to renewables, but pragmatically, this is not a reality that we can do right away.”
Pankratz, a former Burnaby South federal Liberal candidate in 2015, said the real contention is that countries such as India are currently burning coal. And when looking at global targets, if you have the ability to change that coal into natural gas, it’s a better alternative.
Though China may be making leaps toward a greener future, Pankratz noted, the country is attempting to reduce its emissions in part by using natural gas.
Pankratz said neither industry nor proponents of LNG argue that it’s a “green fuel.” Gas is simply the most efficient alternative and way forward, he said.
“The reality of the situation is that renewables just can’t fill the gap now,” Pankratz said. “(LNG) is a fossil fuel that’s better than the alternative. It’s part of the bridge from the heavy intensive use of fossil fuels towards renewables.”
Even if Canada accelerates its pace of reducing emissions, Pankratz said that countries such as India and China — along with the hundreds that have signed on to the Paris Accord — will not go at the same pace.
And the market for B.C. LNG will still be in high demand for decades, particularly for countries such as China or India, he said. A 2016 Conference Board of Canada report said developing 30 million tonnes of LNG per year in B.C. would add $7.4 billion a year to the Canadian economy and 65,000 jobs over three decades.
“Fossil fuels are an indispensable part of Canada’s economy and are going to be for the foreseeable future,” said Pankratz.
The province has been working to better understand and measure methane leakage from natural-gas operations, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Petroleum Resources. It expects to meet “or exceed” the federal benchmark of a 45 per cent reduction in natural-gas operations by 2025.
They’ve been working with industry partners, environmental groups and the federal government to create new rules to reduce methane emissions. New regulations will help drive a reduction in emissions and put a price on methane emissions, the statement noted.
“We will be investigating leading technology with the goal of adapting and implementing best practices in leak detection and repair,” the statement said.
